Gold Heart
by tarquin1
Summary: Aurelia Black has been raised with muggles, unaware of her heritage. When she goes to Hogwarts and meets the Weasley twins, she feels for the first time, like she belongs. But as she gets older, the secrets of her past and future threaten all she loves...
1. Prologue: Cold Winds Rise

Anything that you recognize (including setting and characters) is owned by J.K Rowling

Leaves on the trees of the forest shook in the cool breeze that gusted through them as the woman appeared out of nowhere on the hilltop. The night was cold and although the moon was full the darkness seemed impenetrable. A dark night for dark business, thought the woman as she glided swiftly through the trees. She had a cold and regal beauty about her, like stone. Her silver hair hung in sheets of ice down her back, and her golden cat eyes glowed dangerously. There was a baby in her arms, and although wrapped from head to toe in black cloth it was easy to see that it was no more than six months old. There were leaves on the soft ground old and crunchy, but the woman made no sound as she walked, nor did she leave behind any footprints.

The dark trees seemed only to get closer together as the woman ventured into the forest, but she navigated her way to a small clearing with a still pond. Sh walked to the edge and paused to look around for other signs of life. She did not seem to see anyone for she began a stare at the dark water, almost like she was waiting for something. Her lips moved rapidly, murmuring quietly in a foreign tongue.

The woman kept as still as the pond for an hour, before she seemed to make up her mind about something. She adjusted the hem of her white tunic carelessly and then her pale mask never changing, stretched out her arms so that the child in her arms was suspended over the lake. The child, who up until now had been silent began to cry, as if it somehow sensed impending doom. Her arms began to dump the child out of her grasp when there came crashing through the trees a figure.

"Wait!" he cried. The woman quickly snatched the child back into her arms, although she did not look pleased about having to do so.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice cold as snow.

"You cannot kill that child." The man said, drawing closer. He was tall and dark haired, with the drawn and pinched look of someone who had not slept or eaten well for days.

"And why not?" she asked, drawing herself up impressively.

"Because I said so. " Whatever else he was, the man was clearly confident, for it was not many who would stand up to this woman.

"You're vote does not count in this matter. I have my orders. I came to the still pool at the full moon. I spoke in the ancient tongue of my people. I waited for a sign from above that the child should not die. No sign came. The child's life is forfeit."

"I am your sign."

"Are you?" she sounded doubtful.

"Yes. Please. You have to trust me. Do not kill that child. It has a great fate. I have made it to be so."

"What is its fate?" she asked skeptically.

"Nothing that has to do with you." he gave her a look, and many words passed unsaid between them. She regarded him frostily, eyes narrowed. When she spoke, her tone was warning.

"The child has no place in our world or in yours. It would be of two worlds, not quite belonging in either."

"Is it a squib?"

"No."

"Then it will only be a blessing." He seems sure, the woman thought, but he is a dead man, and the dead ones have a reckless nature about them only a drunk could match.

"Fine. Take the child, what should I care. But hear me when I say that only ill will come of this. I do not know how your world will receive it, but I know ours will have nothing to offer it." She thrust the child toward the man, who took it awkwardly in his arms. Then cradling it tight against his body, he made to touch the woman on the cheek, but she recoiled.

"Do not touch me. I was fooled once by you, and I will not be again." A memory flitted through the man's eyes, and he seemed to contemplate smiling, but didn't. He withdrew his hand, tucking it back under the baby.

"Goodbye then."

"Goodbye." she said, and vanished in a swirl or snow. The man waited for a second longer, before turning on his heel. With a loud _crack_ he disappeared from the pond side and reappeared on a dimly lit street many miles away. It was a familiar street to him, one that he remembered fondly, and it saddened him to think that this would be the last time that his boots would click softly on the cobbles.

The street lights flickered as the man walked up the street to a junction between two houses, still holding the child in his arms. Which house to choose, he deliberated. The choice had to be made, for he would not live long enough to be of any use to the child. He considered his options. Number eleven had two children less than a year, much like this one, although vastly different. The parents had respectable jobs and respectable incomes.

Number thirteen was home to one of the starving artists types, a wiry twenty year old convinced he would change the world with his art. As the man sat thinking, it became clear that his choice was not about who would love the baby the most, but about who would not dump it in the orphanage as soon as they found the child. And it was there where the choice became obvious.

He must rely on motherly instincts, such as they were, to take in the child and raise it as one of her own. Although no mother he had happened on had exactly the kind of warmth he had read about in the stories—indeed, his own mother was strict and distant, but he knew that he would have to place all his hope on the woman of number eleven's shoulders.

He walked stealthily, even though he knew that no one would be awake this time of night. At number eleven's doorstep he knelt and kissed the child's forehead. Then he placed it carefully on the steps, and balanced a letter on top of it. The child made a small upset noise, and a caring expression came into the man's dark eyes

"Oh don't worry, baby." The man cooed, a gentleness in his voice. "You'll understand one day. You will do great things and one day, you will thank me." He smiled a genuine smile at the thought, before adding: "I'm sorry."

And then he turned his heel and vanished once more.


	2. 1: The World As It Is

_This is the last chapter where Aurelia is in the Muggle World. The next chapter has her in Diagon Alley and on the train to Hogwarts. Thank you to: radioactivepenguin13 and locklisskeyes to being the first people ever to put my story on alert/their favorites list. It means a lot and it made my day :)_

**Anything you recognize (including characters and setting) belongs to J.K Rowling**

The first thing that I saw when I woke up on my birthday was snow. Piles of it. There were big white drifts a foot high, spilling over into half plowed roads. This could only mean one thing: snow day.

"Chloe and Tiffany! Get down here before I leave! Aurelia, the eggs need to be saved!" Arlene, my foster mom called up the stairs. I groaned loudly, but I knew better than to put up a fight. Still in my ratty pajama bottoms and sweatshirt I raced from my attic bedroom down two flights of stairs and into the warmly lit kitchen. For someone as bad at cooking as Arlene, the kitchen was incredibly well furnished. Chloe and Tiffany, Arlene's biological kids were in front of the fridge, grabbing the orange juice. Arlene was piling papers into a briefcase and barely looked up as I entered.

"Quickly Aurelia, they're burning." she gestured wildly at the stove, where sure enough the scrambled eggs were smoking slightly. I grabbed a spatula from the drawer and began prodding the eggs around in the skillet. They weren't too bad, as far as an Arlene creation went. I dumped them onto a plate and slid them onto the kitchen table, where Chloe and Tiffany were sitting.

"Good morning freak." Chloe whispered to me. I was about to give a much louder retort when Arlene looked up again, shaking her blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Aurelia get the mail." she said.

"Happy birthday weirdo." Tiffany said, her gray eyes glinting, daring me to respond. I resisted smacking both of them, and ventured out into the hall for the letters that were stacked on the doormat. There wasn't much: a bill for Max, my weak-willed foster father, two of the gossip rags that Arlene loved and...a letter from me. I had never gotten a letter before. As I walked slowly back to the kitchen, I examined the envelope, hoping for some hint as to who the letter could be from. It was addressed in neat script.

**Aurelia Black**

**The Attic Bedroom**

**Number Eleven, Grimmauld Place**

**London, England**

There was no return address. On the back there was an inking of a crest. An ornate H stood surrounded by a lion, eagle, badger and serpent.

"What's taking so long?" Arlene called. So impatient, I thought, and I couldn't keep the sarcastic bit out of my thoughts. I stuffed the letter into my sweatshirt pocket, not wanting to have it snatched. I kew that if either the twins caught sight of it, I would never see it again.

"It's not like there was anything for you." I spat at Tiffany, who only shrugged and flipped her sandy hair over her shoulder. As I sat down to breakfast, I regarded the twins carefully. They were only a few months older than me, When you first met them you thought they looked alike, but they didn't really. Chloe had honey colored hair and pale grey eyes as opposed to Tiffany's sand and light brown, but their sneers were matching as I ate my eggs across from them.

"All right girls, I'm off. I know that this was supposed to be my off day, but Tracy can't come in. so I have to cover for her. I'll be home around noon, so you have the house to yourselves until then." Chloe nodded, and sent a smile at Tiffany. I sat and waited expectantly. She had to say something, she just had too. It was my birthday and eleven was a big one. I remembered the huge party that had been thrown for the twins in August. But no, Arlene turned and headed to the door. I stood up and carried my plate over to the sink disappointedly.

"Aurelia, I almost forgot." I turned, my heart ablaze with hope as Arlene stuck her head around the corner.

"Don't go over to Kevin's. You know perfectly well what I think of that man." and then she was really gone, the door slamming behind her. Now more upset than ever I dropped my dishes into the sink with a bit more force than was actually required. I stumped out of the kitchen and back up to my room.

It was a pretty nice room, as far as bedrooms in the attic go. The bed was small, but comfortable, it's brass headboard very ancient looking. The dresser that was shoved in the corner had rotted away last year, but the Jensons had never replaced it, so I was forced to keep my clothes on the floor, in sloppily folded piles, beneath a small and dirty mirror.

Arlene and Max had granted me the bookcase from the basement that was so small that nightstand was a more accurate name. It was old and slightly slanted, but it served it's purpose: holding my collection of books. When I was little, I had hated the dray gray of the walls, so I had started a habit of drawing on the walls when I was bored during the endless hours of time out I had been forced to endure. It had given me a sick sense of satisfaction, knowing Max and Arlene would be furious if they found out, but they never bothered to come up, not even to tuck me in when I had been small.

I got dressed quickly, determined to visit Kevin anyway. Like most things I owned, the clothes were secondhand. The twins, though barely five months older were much taller than me, so most of their clothes landed at my floor at some point or another. Even when they were mine, they were still too big, so I ended up having a slightly homeless look about me. I slipped the letter (still unopened) into the back pocket of my jeans. Maybe Kevin would have some idea about who it was from. We could open it together. I pulled a hair brush through my tangled black hair and put it up in a bun.

I chanced a glance in the mirror. Unsurprisingly, my reflection hadn't changed much overnight. My skin was still pale, my hair thick and slightly messy, even though it had just been brushed. And then there were my eyes, creepy things that they were. An unnerving gold, that made people look once, and then again in shock. And if that weren't enough, they looked slightly cat-like, a fact that had been the source of many jabs from the twins. At least the pupils weren't slits, that would really have done me in.

I left the offending mirror and my room. I glanced around as I walked downstairs, not wanting to run into the twins. I wasn't scared of them, but they had heard Arlene's request about Kevin, and would make sure that it wouldn't be easy for me to get over there. They knew as well as I did that they couldn't stop me, but they would slow me down, and I was in no mood to slow down.

Fortunately I did not meet them in the hall when I stopped to get my coat form the hall closet. When I opened the door, before I could even begin process the bitter cold, a snowball was thrown in my face. As I wiped the now from my eyes, I was unsurprised to see the twins grinning evilly at me from across the street.

"Happy birthday freak!" Chloe called, echoing her sister's jab at breakfast, her gray eyes glittering. Fuming, I launched two snowballs at them.

Not looking to see if they hit their intended targets (although the screams assured me that they had) I ran over to Kevin's door. I knocked and when Kevin opened the door five seconds later, dashed in before the twins could fire again.

"Hey watch where you're going." Kevin called, closing the door behind me.

"God you look a mess." At thirty three, Kevin was almost a foot taller than her. He had brown hair that looked like he had trimmed it with nail clippers and cheerful brown eyes to match. He was an artist, and his home proved it, his art covered every inch of drab gray wall and some of his worse attempts at sculpting lay broken on the ground, looking very much like they had been chucked at the wall. He was her greatest friend.

"I know." I said, taking off my coat and hanging it on the single hook by the door. "I really hate those two." Kevin said nothing to this, having heard this complaint many times over the years.

"You're my only friend." I continued. Kevin seemed surprised to hear this.

"Don't you have friends at school?" I let out a giggle at that.

"Um sorry, but no. Everyone kind of avoids me. I think it's because of my eyes. I sit alone at lunch, and the only person who speaks to me is a girl named Meredith, but she's too fake."

"Oh. And I suppose it isn't worth asking if the twins talk to you."

"If shouting freak across the room counts as talking." I fell into a brooding silence as we walked down the hall, and Kevin didn't bother to try and fill it with talk. That was one of the things I liked most about Kevin. He appreciated silence as much as he liked to talk.

"Arlene doesn't like you." I informed Kevin as he led me into the kitchen. He grunted, which I appreciated. It seemed like an appropriate response for anything to do with Arlene Jenson.

"I know she doesn't. Remember that time she yelled at me for corrupting you after you put whipped cream on honey on the twins while they were sleeping?"

"Oh yeah...I forgot about that." I grinned. Kevin's kitchen was very different from my own. Instead of a well lit, orderly space filled with the fanciest pots and pans, Kevin had only the bare essentials. Kevin poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter.

"Want some?" He offered.

"No thanks, I'm trying to grow to my full height."

"Priss." Kevin said. "One cup won't kill you."

"Easy for you to say. You're tall."

"And you're short." Kevin took a sip of his coffee and smacked his lips, ignoring my glare. I didn't like it when people made fun of my height, but I mostly let Kevin get away with it.

"Nothing more magical than a cup of coffee." he told me, setting his cup on the dirty counter.

"Whatever you say. Got any new art projects?"

"Too many. Want to see?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Kevin abandoned his coffee and led me back down the hall, to his studio. I knew that even though Kevin had a "studio" he only kept about ten percent of his work there. And that ten percent was usually the newer stuff, before it drifted out into the rest of the house. His studio was probably the neatest place in the house, I thought as I walked around looking at the new stuff. He kept everything sorted by media. Over in the far corner was collages, where scraps of magazines and who knew what else were kept. By the window there was water color, hanging to dry on a clothesline. On an end table there sat a thick block of clay.

"Hey Aurelia." I turned, and saw Kevin standing by the clothesline a piece of 5 by 7 paper in his hands.

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday." he thrust the paper at me face down. I took it, and smiling turned it over. It was splatter paint, but showed a scene. It was a forest, with light filtering slowly through closely packed trees and sparkling on deep blue pond. Looking at it carefully, a message appeared to Aurelia. The was the branches were arranged, the way the trees stood, the was the light glittered, so that the picture said Happy Birthday Aurelia.

"Oh Kevin thank you!" I cried, throwing myself at the man in a hug. He laughed and hugged me back.

"I'm glad you like it. You have no idea how long that took." I released him.

"Why couldn't it have been your doorstep I got dropped on?" I asked sadly. Whenever Arlene was mad at me (which was often) she always swore that misfortune had come on her family the day I was dropped on their doorstep like a bottle of milk. Kevin smiled at me, trying to keep conversation light.

"Probably because ten years ago I had just dropped out of University and was struggling just to eat. I was one of those starving artists, trying to get a job."

"You're still a starving artist." I said cheekily.

"But with a job now." he replied gaily. I glanced back down at the painting. The setting seemed familiar to me, but I had never been out of the busy city in my life.

"Where is this?"

"The Forest of Dean. That's based on a picture I took when I went camping last summer."

"Oh."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"It just looked kind of familiar, that's all." I said, feeling kind of foolish as I said it.

"What? You've never been to the Forest of Dean. You'd have told me, right? You tell me everything." Kevin winked at me.

"Yeah.." I said, dropping my gaze guiltily. It was mostly true, but with one exception. I had never told anyone about it, because if I did I would end up in a padded cell for the rest of my life.

Once when I was about eight I had been fuming mad at Chloe because she had broken the window and then blamed me, and I had flung myself on my bed and when I had reached for a pillow to pull over my head she had found that I didn't have _hands._

Instead I had huge paws with black fur on them. And I couldn't speak...I growled. I had tried to get up, but I found that now I had four legs. I had bounded on four legs over to the mirror and instead of my regular human reflection I found a huge panther with luminous golden eyes. Then, before my very own eyes, the panther melted away into my human body, the only thing remaining the same was my eyes. I had been petrified. I'd had a freaking tail, for god's sake.

I had promised herself two things after that. One, that I would never mention it to anyone, unless they brought it up that they could do it as well. And two, I would never transform again. To do this, I figured that I would have to keep my anger in check. I never pushed herself as far as I did that day, and had thankfully, remained human ever since. But I still remembered, and still feared it.

"Aurelia, I asked you a question." Kevin's voice snapped me out of the memory.

"Sorry what?"

"I asked if you were going to stay to lunch. I have to be at work by noon."

"What time is it?"

"Ten forty."

"It takes you over an hour to eat?"

"No. forty to eat, ten to clean up and the rest of the time to get to work."

"Um, no sorry. I had better get back."

"Okay, see you later."

"Thanks for the painting." I walked into the hall to get my coat.

"You're welcome." I opened the door to the cold air and ran back over to my house. I got all the way up to my room before I remembered the letter in my pocket. I had forgotten to ask Kevin about it. I briefly considered going back, but rejected that idea almost instantly. I had eaten lunch with Kevin once, and wasn't likely to repeat the experience. Kevin was a food freak. He was a vegan, ate only organic foods and ate tofu like it was going out of style. I hated tofu.

I pulled the letter out and with a deep breath slit it open. There was two pieces of heavy parchment inside. I pulled out the first one.

_Dear Miss Black,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of_

_Witchcraft and Wizardry-_

At this point I stopped reading. Was this some kind of joke? Did Chloe or Tiffany put this in the mail to try and trick me? There was no such things as witches and wizards.

_Oh really? _A tiny voice in the back of my head spoke. "_Then what do you call turning into a __panther? A party trick?" _

Annoyed at myself for even trying to justify magic and shapeshifting I set the letter down on the bed. But try as I might, I couldn't stop thinking about the shapeshifting. Could I do it again?

I shut my eyes, and trying not to feel to stupid, willed myself to change. There was a prickling sensation, like sparks running over my skin...and then I fell forward onto her arms and knees...and then my body wasn't there anymore.

I opened my eyes and looked down at my huge paws. Excited, I flicked my tail. Carefully, I took a step forward. And another and another until I was walking the length of her room. Walking with four legs took some getting used to, although moving two legs at a time came naturally, the idea of it was one that I found strange.

I willed myself to change back, I didn't want to take a chance that I would get stuck in the body if I stayed there to long.

Back in human form, I stood thinking. Was it just a panther I could change into? Or was it any animal? How about a bird? I had always wanted to be able to fly. I remembered being very little and trying to teach myself to fly. I had stood on the edge of my bed and jumped off countless times, each time telling myself that this would be the one. There had been a few times when I could have sworn I had stayed air born for a few seconds longer than was normal but I had written it off to other causes. I was just gearing up to try when:

"AURELIA GET DOWN HERE!" Tiffany yelled up the stairs, startling me so badly that I fell off the bed. Annoyed, I got back to my feet, rubbing my elbow.

"AURELIA!" Tiffany yelled again.

"Coming!" I called back. Stuffing the letter back into my pocket, I ran down the stairs to see what Tiffany could possibly want. I found her standing anxiously at the bottom of the stairs, watching me nervously as I descended.

"What is it?" I asked as when I reached her.

"Well—um, it's just that well—you'll need to come into the kitchen to see." Tiffany scratched her elbow. This may have seemed like an innocent gesture to some, but when Kevin taught me to play poker, had shown my how to find people's tells. That day I had gone home to try and discern my family's tells. Max would stutter uncontrollably, Arlene would chew her lip, Chloe's hands would shake and Tiffany would scratch her elbow. Just like she was doing now. I went on guard.

"No. You're going to throw another snowball at me." Tiffany did not reply, but the continued scratching of the elbow was answer enough. I turned to go back upstairs and just then the doorbell rang. I looked at Tiffany over her shoulder.

"You can get that." I told her, and began to head up, giving Tiffany no choice but to hurry towards the door. Chloe must have gotten rid of the snowball down the sink, for she stuck her head out of the kitchen in curiosity. I continued upstairs, so I didn't see the owner of the voice, but I still could hear it.

"Hi. Can I help you?" that was Tiffany, her usually skeptical voice even more skeptical at the sight of this visitor whoever he was.

"Yes you can. Are you Aurelia Black?" the voice was old, but kind. Upon hearing my name, I turned. I was on the second floor landing, invisible to the doorway, but still within hearing distance. The prefect hiding place.

"Er, no." Tiffany sounded disgusted at the very idea.

"Is she here?" The voice sounded pleasant enough, but I thought I could hear an undertone of impatience.

As much as I like hearing Tiffany stumble about (the visitor must be very strange) I had had as many visitors as I had letters and I couldn't help but want to know who would want to talk to Aurelia Black, the Jensons' difficult foster child, who needed to learn to hold her tongue. So I ran back downstairs as fast as I could, before Tiffany could reply.

"I'm Aurelia Black." I said, seeing the visitor for the first time. I was quite shocked at his appearance, but before I could get a good hard stare in, he spoke.

"Well of course you are. I should like to have a few words with you."

"Why?" I blurted out rudely, before I could stop myself. I blushed and tried again. "What I mean to say is er, that I don't even know who you are."

"Oh right. How silly of me, I quite forgot. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Hogwarts? Wasn't that the name of the school on the letter? I peered deep into the man's bright blue eyes, trying to tell if he was lying, but he looked quite sincere.

"There's no such thing. Aurelia don't let him in." Chloe had finally not been able to resist interrupting. I whipped around.

"Don't tell me what to do. You don't know anything." I turned to face the man again. I had been right that he was indeed old, but there was something ageless about his twinkling blue eyes. His long nose had looked like it had been broken at least once, and his long silver beard fell to where his waist. He was wearing a neat plum suit, and looked incredibly serene. I decided right then that not only did I like him, I trusted him.

"Come in." I said, drawing to the side to let him in.

"Thank you."

I looked back at Tiffany and Chloe. They looked furious. It was beautiful.

"Is there some place we can sit down?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Yes, there's the parlor." I led Dumbledore to the first door on the left. The parlor room was hardly ever used, except when Max or Arlene were trying to impress the prospective investors that they brought round for dinner. I was never invited, which usually meant that on those nights, I would have to sneak over to Kevin's house so I could eat.

The beige sofas looked neat and respectable, so I could almost believe that Dumbledore belonged here, in his formal attire, opposed to my jeans and ratty long sleeved shirt, which in this room looked less acceptable than dirt. Dumbledore waited until I was seated awkwardly across from him before beginning.

"How are you Aurelia?" this caught me by surprise. No one had ever asked how I was before.

"Fine." I said shortly. "Why are you here?" Dumbledore chuckled.

"Why, I have come to offer you a place at Hogwarts."

"You mean to go to school there?"

"Yes."

"So you weren't making it up?"

"No. And I daresay you received a letter from us as well."

I stood up and pulled it out of my pocket. I read it quickly, my eyes widening at each new line.

"Is it really a school of magic?" I asked and even I could hear the wonder in my voice.

"Yes." Dumbledore sounded delighted that I had picked it up so quickly.

"So...I'm a witch?"

"Precisely."

"And Chloe and Tiffany?"

"Are not. Any magical child will receive a letter from our school at age eleven, and they can come and learn from us. The school goes for seven years, where you will not only learn magic, but learn to control it."

"Wicked." I breathed, and Dumbledore laughed outright.

"Attached you will find a list of things you should bring to school." Hastily I pulled it out. At the first essential, my heart leapt.

"I really get a wand?"

"Really. And there is also a ticket for September first in there, to get on the train to school."

"I have to wait until September?" Disappointment erased the glee.

"I am afraid so." said Dumbledore sadly. "You see, we are only about halfway through this current school year. But it won't go as slow as you think." he added kindly.

"Where do I get all these things?"

"In Diagon Alley. Usually, I would take you there today, but they need to restock. I shall take you in the summer, closer to school."

"You'll take me?" I knew that I must look amazed. "When?"

"Shall we say, August 31?" said Dumbledore. I nodded happily. Dumbledore smiled at me.

"It really won't go as slow as you believe it will right now." he told me. But that wasn't what I was thinking about.

"Can you show me magic?" I asked. Dumbledore eyed me carefully, like he was sizing me up. Then, quite suddenly, a flock of birds appeared out of nowhere and fluttered happily about the room. I laughed as one landed on my shoulder before disappearing. My face shone with excitement as I gazed at Dumbledore with the utmost amazement.

"Thank you." I said.

"Your quite welcome." said Dumbledore.

"So all these things I can do, that are kind of funny, is that magic?"

"Why yes. Young wizards often show signs of magic before going to Hogwarts. Often it happens when you are out of control of your own emotions."

"Wow."

"Yes, I believe that 'wow' is an appropriate word now." I glared at the old man before I realized that he was quite serious. As Dumbledore stood, a shadow suddenly passed over my face.

"And this really is not a joke."

"No. Why?"  
>"Well, it's just that—I never really believed that I was much of anything. I just feel so alone here, that I'm not really sure who I am. And if this isn't real, well, I think I might die." I confessed. Dumbledore looked at me kindly and sat back down.<p>

"Aurelia, listen to me. This is the most real thing of all. You are a witch, and in September, your life will take an unimaginable turn for the better. Just wait. And as for being alone, you will never be alone again. Remember that." he smiled at me and I felt a bit better.

He walked out of parlor door and into the hall, where Chloe and Tiffany had been trying to listen in. At the front door he turned back to me, standing in the hall, the letter clutched in my hands.

"I shall see you in August. Eleven o' clock sharp." he said, and then he closed the door behind him and was gone.

Immediately, Chloe and Tiffany turned to me.

"What was that about?" Chloe asked sharply. I shrugged my shoulders.

"This has been the best day ever." I told them gleefully.

And I headed back upstairs to my little attic bedroom, happier than I had been in my life.


	3. A Star Shone

_Hi Everyone, sorry for the long wait in between the last chapter and this one. I had intended on having this up a lot sooner, but the first week back to school was a lot more intense than I had anticipated. I decided to cut off chapter a little early, first to get it up and second because I wanted to spend more time on the details of the next one, which will be up much more faster than this one!_

_Thanks to those who put my story on their favorites list! Please Review!_

**Everything your recognize (including setting and characters) is owned by J.K Rowling**

_People who added my story, thank you so much:_

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"_A star shone at the hour of our meeting." -J.R.R Tolkien _

I didn't expect Professor Dumbledore to be right, but the months passed faster than I had expected. The snows gave way to rain, which made the flowers spring out of hiding, and the walk to school was now an outburst of color. School ended quickly enough, me not speaking more than I had to. I managed by thinking of Hogwarts, but it was a close call sometimes.

Finally, when the grass had long since died and the blankets pulled off beds months ago, the highly anticipated knock came. I thought I heard Max mutter from the study something like "go away" but I ignored it and yanked the door open enthusiastically.

Professor Dumbledore looked unchanged, except for that his suit was now a sharp emerald green. He must be boiling, I felt sticky in my tank top and shorts, but I guess that he has some sort of magic spell to keep him cool.

"Are you ready?" He asked. I nodded enthusiastically, a thrill of anticipation racing down my spine.

"Well then come on." he said, and I tried to keep from wriggling in excitement.

"Bye Max!" I called over my shoulder. Max made no response, and even if he did I wouldn't have heard him, because I slammed the door shut and followed Professor Dumbledore out into the streets.

I turned in the direction of the bus stop, but Dumbledore reached out and put a hand on my shoulder.

"We are not taking Muggle transportation today, Aurelia." he said.

"Then how are we getting to—Diagon Alley, isn't it?" I asked.

"We are getting there by apparition, which is a wizard way of traveling."

"How do you do it?" I was going to learn magic already, before Hogwarts!

"Well, you are not allowed. One must be of age, that is to say, seventeen, before one can qualify to apparate. You have to pass a test."

"Then if I can't, how will I get there?" I tried not to sound to disappointed.

"By Side-Along Apparition. If you will take my arm then we can go. Hold tight, I don't want to lose you on the way." He offered me his arm and I held on as tightly as I could.

"Good. Now, when I say go, I want you to turn on your left heel. Can you do that?" I nodded. "Okay then, go!"

I turned with Dumbledore. The effect was instantaneous, I felt like I was being squeezed through a too small tube. I felt my body compressing in on me, my lungs tightening making it impossible to breath. I was sure that I was going to die when it all relaxed. My feet hit solid ground and I stood for a moment, wavering on the spot before collapsing onto my hands and knees. I gulped in air, trying not to throw up. I was aware of Dumbledore standing beside me, waiting.

When the nausea had passed, I clambered to my feet, taking in my surroundings. We were in back of a building, where they put their trash. A door was behind us and we stood facing a solid brick wall.

"What now?" I asked, and Dumbledore chuckled.

"I'm surprised at your energy. Most come off their first Side-Along Apparition a lot worse. But in answer to your question we are about to enter Diagon Alley. Behind us is the Leaky Cauldron, a tavern of sorts, with rooms. Watch closely." He took out his wand and tapped a brick—slightly broken but a distinctive burnt orange color. I knew that I could remember it.

Immediately, the wall began to move, the bricks twisting and turning, defying the mortar which held them together. I backed up quickly, afraid that the wall was going to fall. Dumbledore merely stayed where he was as the bricks made an entrance through the wall, revealing a cobbled street lined with shops. Dumbledore turned, his eyes twinkling.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley." he said, and motioned for me to follow him through. The street was teeming with people young and old, all dressed in cloaks and robes. They were all chatting happily, bags of merchandise in their hands. I caught some of the conversations they were having, but none made any sense.

Did you see the article in the Daily Prophet? The one about the vampire attack in Brazil?" one man with a yellow cloak asked another.

"He caught the Snitch in about two minutes!" one young witch said to her friend.

The shops were as interesting as the people, all brightly colored and advertising things like a new order of wolfsbane, owls on sale, and a new broom called a Cleansweep 2. I stuck close to Dumbledore as we maneuvered through the crowds. He led me to the steps of a grand white building, with golden doors. He spoke as we walked up the steps.

"This is Gringotts, the wizard bank. It's run by goblins. This is where everyone keeps their money, including your family. I have the key to your vault."

"I have money?" I asked incredulously. I had never had any money to spend at all, except on the off occasion Kevin gave me a pound or two for mowing his lawn. Before Dumbledore could answer, we passed through the door and I stopped caring about the answer. We were in a great golden hall, with huge raised desks that even Dumbledore could barely look over. Behind the desks were indeed goblins. They had long noses and beady eyes that looked untrustworthy. They were all busy, either writing something or weighing bits of jewels on golden scales. We approached one. Dumbledore rang the bell and the goblin looked up suspiciously.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice filled with thinly disguised disregard.

"This is Miss Aurelia Black. She wishes to visit her vault." Dumbledore spoke for me, and I was glad he did, because I had no idea what to say. The goblin peered over the desk at me, suddenly interested.

"Is it? We have not had a Black visit the bank in some time not since-"

"Thats enough Bogrod." Dumbledore cut him off with a sharp glance. Bogrod changed track, although he continued to stare at me.

"Do you have your key, Miss?" he asked me. I quailed, but Dumbledore saved me again. He reached into his pocket and produced a tiny key, gold like everything else in the room. Bogrod examined it carefully.

"Follow me." he said, setting off through a door. He led us onto a dark platform, where a tiny cart with a light hung on it was waiting. Bogrod climbed into what was obviously the drivers seat. I clambered into the back with Dumbledore. There was a bar running along the back of the front seat.

"Hold onto that." Dumbledore whispered as the cart shot off along the track. It raced along with dizzying speed, and I held on for dear life. The cart continued down, and I could see other tracks running along all around us, along with platforms where I assumed the vaults were. It was like a whole other world down here in the dark, there were cliffs and crags and I thought that way down I could see the thin trail of a river.

Finally the car slowed to a stop in front of a small tunnel. Bogrod held the light as we walked down the passage until we reached a small port in the wall.

"Key." Bogrod demanded. Dumbledore handed it to him and he fitted it into the lock. With a loud groan it swung open, revealing piles of gold, silver and bronze. Dumbledore took a bag and scraped some money in.

"That's more than enough, I think. Okay, the gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones Sickles, and the bronze ones Knuts. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so." Dumbledore handed me the bag. Taking it, I realized with a thrill that this was the largest amount of money that I had ever had in my life.

"How much is this worth, you know in non-wizard money?" I asked, imagining Chloe and Tiffany green with envy if they ever learned of the fortune that I owned. Bogrod snorted and Dumbledore looked at me strangely.

"You know I'm not quite sure. Bogrod, shall we be off then?" Bogrod nodded. I found it strange that he way still watching me, his beady eyes unblinking.

Back above ground and back on the cobbled street Dumbledore steered me through the crowds until we reached a small shop with an old door and a sign painted with peeling gold letters that read Ollivanders Wand Shop, the makers of fine wands since 382 B.C. Feeling nervous I stepped into the shop.

Although everything in the shop, from the waiting chair to the shelves piled with little boxes had an old and slightly tired look I couldn't help but feel a slight aura of mystery and knowledge that both excited and unnerved. As soon as the door closed with a little _ting_ there was a loud bang from one of the back shelves. Someone laughed and I jumped, but then the old man who had been laughing appeared. He looked as old as Dumbledore, but was lacking the long beard. His snow white hair was neatly trimmed and his fingers were long and nimble.

"Why Miss Aurelia Black. I had hoped that I might be seeing you soon." He had a thin voice, but one that carried a powerful sense of all knowing.

"Did you know I was coming?" I asked.

"In a way." was all he said, disappearing behind the shelves. He reappeared with a long thin box in his hand, the edges slightly burned and the top blown off. He came around from behind the desk and fixed me with a look of such serious that I thought for a second that someone had died.

"Did you know, Miss Black, that you caused this to happen?" he asked me.

"Oh no! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..I had no idea that I was doing it." I spluttered. Ollivander cut over my fumbling attempts at an apology smoothly.

"I did not mean that you meant to cause it. You see Miss Black you came in here looking for a wand, and you will go out with one. But the wand chooses the witch, and it appears that this wand has chosen you. Ten and three quarter inches, vine and phoenix feather." He held out the box to me and I stared questioningly up at him.

"Well take it!' he said, a bite of impatience in his voice. As soon as I gripped the wood, warmth ran up my hand, tingling as it went. "You see Miss Black, vine wands are special. They are the most sensitive when finding a witch or wizard to be paired with. When one matches with them so perfectly, as soon as the wizard enters the room, the wand will send an explosion, as you just witnessed, although this is quite rare. Feel honored."

I blushed and looked down at my feet. "Nothing to blush about girl! That's twelve galleons please." I fished around in my bag and as I set the money on the counter I looked at Mr. Ollivander.

"Mr. Ollivander, how long have you worked here?"

"Quite a while Miss Black."

"Do you remember my parents?" I asked so quietly I thought that he would miss it. His sharp glance not only assured me that he had heard, but that people were keeping secrets from me about my parents.

" Yes Miss Black, I knew your father. An interesting young man, wanted to change the world. And your mother, why, she never came here. I am certain of it, I remember every wand that I have ever sold, and she is not among my many customers."

"Oh, well thank you." I said. He nodded his head at me before disappearing into the depths of the store, which was clearly a lot bigger than I had originally thought. I couldn't help think that I had just been dismissed from an audience with royalty.

We went from Ollivanders to Flourish and Blotts, which Dumbledore told me would carry all my school books. When we entered the store Dumbledore looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry Aurelia, I need to speak with the manager for a moment. Do you think that you can find your books yourself, at least until we're done? Transfiguration is there, next to Charms and Potions. Just follow the labels and your booklist." He strode off through a heavy velvet curtain.

Okay, I can do this I found myself thinking. I found my Transfiguration book easily enough, but Potions was giving me trouble. I wandered up and down the row, looking. I was just turning the corner when someone whispered "watch it!" loudly in my ear and yanked me by the elbow into a corner invisible to passersby. It was already small because it was the place where four bookcases met, but was made even tinier by the two red-headed boys already standing in the space.

They looked incredibly similar. They were both red headed, freckled, and looked to be exactly each other's heights. The one who grabbed me stood next to the other and they were looking at me with matching looks of curiosity.

"Who are you?" They asked in unison. I couldn't help by feel slightly outraged by the question.

"Who am I? You just grabbed me and pulled me in here with no notice and you want to know who I—"

"Shhhh!" They cut me off. I quieted and with grudging curiosity crowded around the small gap where we could see the path that they pulled me out of. I watched as a middle aged man with mousy hair walked by. Now that I was looking carefully, I could see a thin piece of rope strung between the bottom rows of books, but just high enough that someone would jar it when they stepped. Sure enough, the man did and not a second later he was covered in a sticky green goo. The boys laughed, and so did I, in spite of myself.

"Okay, that was pretty funny." I said when they turned back to me, grinning identically.

"Will you tell us who you are now?" the one on the left asked. He had an almost invisible freckle in the corner of his right eye that the other did not.

"I'm Aurelia Black. And who are you?"

"We're Fred" said the one on the left "and George Weasley. Are you going to be a first year at Hogwarts?" the one on the right picked up seamlessly.

"Yeah I am. I don't really know anything about it though. My foster parents are muggles."

"Our dad's obsessed with muggles. What house do you hope that you get into?" asked Fred.

"I don't know what you're talking about." George opened his mouth to respond, but just then a woman's voice sounded from the front of the store.

"Fred and George Weasley! I know you're in here! Come out at once, we need to leave if we're going to make it back home in time for Auntie Muriel!" Fred and George rolled their eyes.

"See you." they said together, as they wiggled out of the space. And then they were gone. I followed, and continued on my search for the Potions book. I found Dumbledore waiting for me there.

"Almost finished?" he asked, and I nodded. He helped me find the rest of the books, which was good because I would not have been able to find them on my own. The manager—goo free—was manning the cash register and he took my money with a scowl on his face.

Dumbledore took me to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. It was an interesting place with all sorts of interesting people. I could swear that the woman in the corner eating a raw fish was not human, but as I ate my grilled cheese I tried not to dwell on it. Dumbledore sat across the table from me, serenely looking down the end of his nose at me, as if waiting for me to ask something. I had to do it.

"Um Professor, can I ask you about my parents? I mean, I know that the Jensons aren't related to me, but I don't know anything about my real parents."  
>"Aurelia, I can't tell you everything because I do not know everything. Your father is from the Black family, which is an ancient, powerful and rich pureblood family. He died very young, almost immediately after you were born, I believe. And as for your mother, well, she never passed through Hogwarts, and I never knew her. What I do know is that she is the reason that you have that little shapeshifting power of yours." He fixed me with a stare and I ducked my gaze away guiltily.<p>

"Um yeah, I, sorry that I didn't tell you, it's just that well, it's not something that one usually brings up in a normal conversation."

"I understand completely Aurelia, and I know why you were afraid. You are the only witch in the world who possess the power to shape shift, so I would advise you not to tell anyone. But in the future, if you could just tell me the truth it would save us some trouble. To borrow a phrase, honesty is the best policy."

"Yes Professor." I said, and bit into my sandwich, even though I had quite lost my appetite. The knowledge about my parents, even though it wasn't much, gave me a lot to think about. Professor Dumbledore had given me more questions than he'd answered. It was hard to decide who I wanted to know most about, but in the end it was my mother. I wondered why she and I could both shape shift. What made us so special? And most importantly, why had she never attended Hogwarts, or gone to Ollivander for a wand? Was she some kind of weird recluse? I hoped not, I had always pictured my mother as someone who was beautiful, glamorous and flawless in general, in that way that kids who don't know their parents do.

After we apparated back to Grimmauld Place Dumbledore pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"In here is your ticket for the train tomorrow. It leaves at exactly 11:00, from Kings Cross Station, so don't be late. Do you have any questions?" I had one. I had pulled my ticket from the envelope and was examining.

"Um, Professor, this ticket says the train leaves from Platform 9 ¾. Is there such a thing?" Dumbledore smiled, as if he had been waiting for this question.

"For us wizards, yes. When you get to Kings Cross, you will see a barrier in between Platforms 9 and 10. To get to 9 ¾ you have to run at the barrier, straight through. Don't be nervous, you won't crash. I'm sorry that I cannot accompany you, but I must return to Hogwarts tonight."

"_Through_ the barrier?" I said incredulously.

"Yes, of course. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Dumbledore patted my shoulder. "You can stand one more day with them, can't you?"

"I'll try." I promised him. He smiled again, and before I had even gone through the door of the house, he had vanished.

Max flat out refused to take me to Kings Cross Station.

"I will not cart you around like I'm your personal chauffeur, especially with you carrying around all that freak stuff with you." he had grumbled at me over the newspaper, and that had been the end of that. I felt compelled to point out that he acted like Chloe and Tiffany's chauffeur, but decided that it wasn't worth the fight and the consequence of no dinner that would follow.

Even though I had not yet gotten to Hogwarts, the benefits of being a witch were already appearing. Arlene didn't make me cook dinner, petrified that I would blow her up or something like that. No one insulted me at dinner, Chloe and Tiffany huddled in a corner of the table, afraid to be within a certain distance of me.

That night, packing didn't take me long. I had gotten a big trunk in Diagon Alley, and I quickly piled all my new things, as well as my old clothes in. There was plenty of room left, so I tenderly rolled Kevin's birthday present up and placed in carefully in the trunk. The only thing that I was sad about leaving was Kevin. I hadn't told him about being a witch, Dumbledore had told me that it was strictly forbidden, and I hadn't even told him that I was leaving the next day.

I felt terrible, but in the end I decided it was for the best. When he came looking, the Jensons would tell him that I had gone to boarding school, and would be back in the summer. He would be sad, but I was sure that he would get over it, because let's face it he had better, older and more relatable friends.

I tucked myself into bed, the same as I had done every night of my life, but this time I had a tingly sense of anticipation. Tonight was the last night of boring sameness and the sense that I was some kind of weird freak that I had been forced to put up with. Tomorrow, my life would change beyond my wildest dreams—I had always hoped that something would come and save me from this pit, but I had never really thought that it was possible. But it had happened. I was being swept away into an enchanted world of magical spells, creatures and people.

I didn't intend to look back.


	4. It's Your Life

_Okay, I admit it. I lied. This chapter took forever and I am so sorry. I swear to you that the next one will be up quicker as I try to set up a schedule for myself to stick to. Thank you to everyone who added this story to their favorites and/or alerts. I wish I could thank you by name, but that would take up way to much space on here and make this A/N mich longer than necessary, but just to let you know it means a lot and I get really excited whever I get that kind of an email. Read and Review, and thank you to everyone. _

**Anything you recognize (including characters, setting and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"_You just have to do your own thing, not matter what anyone says. It's your life." -Ethan Embry_

As I stood in front of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, I tried not to feel a little bit doubtful. There was no way this could work. The crowds surged around me, growing in number as trains came in, and the depleting as people hurried off to their destination's without a second glance toward the strange girl standing with a trunk as big as her.

I took a deep breath. Dumbledore had said that it would work, and I saw absolutely no reason not to trust Dumbledore. He had been the one to save me from the Jensons, after all. I pushed the trolley forward. The trunk made it heavy, but I was too focused on my goal to notice. I walked forward, thinking only of all the possibility that lay on the other side, refusing to acknowledge all the doubts that had been circling around in my head not even a minute before.

The wall was getting closer and closer, and I closed my eyes, unable to look when suddenly, the world changed. The sounds of people talking were different, terms like "Ravenclaw", "Quidditch" and "Divination". Even the air smelled different. I opened my eyes. I was standing on a new platform, one that was just as busy as Kings Cross, but with a much nicer atmosphere. There was a huge red steam engine, which people where piling onto, and lugging huge trunks like mine behind them.

As I hoisted my trunk onto the train—it was heavy, but I managed—i wondered whether Fred and George were already here. Despite my jumbled encounter with them, I had liked the twins. I was pulling my trunk along the train, darting around much older teenagers who were busy reconnecting with each other after a long summer, when I heard a voice call "Aurelia!"

I looked around a group of sixteen year olds, and sure enough, there was Fred Weasley, poking his head out of a compartment a little further down the corridor. I grinned and quickly pulled my trunk down to where he was.

"Hey!" I said, happy that I would not have to sit on my own for the whole train ride. Fred stepped aside and I entered his compartment, where George was sitting by the window. He smiled at me as I sat down. The train began to pull out of the station as Fred sat down beside his brother. In our brief meeting at Flourish and Blotts I had not managed to understand how much they looked alike. They were probably exactly the same height, and their flaming hair was the same length. Their eyes were the same twinkling blue. I was proud of myself for having found the miniscule difference between them.

"Fred! George!" Another red-headed boy opened the door.

"Percy! How nice to see you! I see the zits have all popped!" George said. Percy scowled, but when he spoke his tone was dignified.

"Yes they have, no thanks to you too. I was just going to say that I'm going to be down at the end of the train, in case you need anything. No messing around." He shot the twins a glare, adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses and vanished.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Our brother Percy. The biggest prat there ever was." said Fred, sticking his tongue out at where Percy had stood a moment before.

"Oh. I guess I won't be friends with him then. Do you have any other siblings?"

"Yeah. We have a lot. There's Bill, Charlie and Percy, who are older. Bill and Charlie have both left Hogwarts and Percy is a third year. Ron and Ginny are younger. Ron is nine and Ginny's eight." George rattled them off, looking slightly bored as he did so, as if he had been forced to do this many times before.

"That must be nice. I always wanted more siblings then I have, because the ones I live don't really count."

"What does that mean?" the twins asked together.

"I live with a muggle family, the Jensons. They aren't my real parents, I was left on their doorstep when I was really young. They have a set of twins named Chloe and Tiffany. They couldn't be more different that you two." I told them. Usually I hated recounting my past, but I didn't mind with Fred and George. They looked so open and friendly, like they were really interested in what I had to say.

"What's it like?" Fred asked.

"What's what like?" I asked, confused.

"You know, growing up with Muggles. Our dad is obsessed with them." George elaborated.

"Well, the Jensons were awful. They treated me like I was some kind of freak. But I don't think they're all bad—I mean, I know one who isn't." The twins nodded seriously. Then Fred leaned forward.

"You know you aren't a freak right? I mean, you belong here as much as George and I do." he asked seriously, reaching a hand out across to me.

"I know that Fred." I snapped, slapping his hand away. He withdrew back up into his seat. I could see him wipe the expression of hurt quickly off his face. Instantly, I felt bad. I hadn't meant to be rude, but at the same time there had been a little voice inside my head, questioning whether it was true. I mean, how many other people can turn into any animal?

Our compartment stayed silent. Fred staring at his feet, George at the window and me listening to the conversations out in the hall.

"Who are the Hufflepuff prefects?" A blonde boy asked the girl next to him.

"Emma Li and Jackson Harding." she responded, before they passed our compartment, their voices fading. I turned to Fred and George.

"What the heck is a Hufflepuff?" I asked. Fred laughed outright, and George fought to keep a straight face.

"Hufflepuff is one of the four Hogwarts houses." George explained. "There are four houses, and everyone gets sorted into one, based on personality. The houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin."

"How do you get sorted?"

"We don't know—no one in our family would tell us." Fred grimaced at the injustice. "Hope it's not hard to work around though. See, we want to get into Gryffindor."

"Why?"

"Our whole family's been in Gryffindor, but that's not really what we care about. Gryffindor is by far the best—it's the house of the brave."

"That does sound pretty good, but I don't think that I'm very brave."

"If you lived with Muggles for 11 years, you must be." said George seriously. I blushed slightly, but the compliment was a silly one, since the Jensons weren't exactly dangerous. Outside the compartment, a jolly old witch appeared with a huge trolley of candy. It looked especially amazing, since I had never had any real pocket money to buy candy with.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked. All of us leapt up. When we stepped out into the corridor I noticed that the candies were not ones that I had ever seen before in my life. There were things called Acid Pops, Fizzing Whizzbees and Droobles Best Blowing Gum. As I marveled at the brightly colored display, Fred and George pooled their money for a few packs of things called Chocolate Frogs and two Cauldron Cakes. The witch then turned to me, but I was still dumfounded.

"What's good?" I asked the twins. They grinned widely. I had a feeling that I was missing something, I didn't know exactly what though.

"Get Bertie Blotts Beans." Fred told me. I eyed him suspiciously, but bought the Beans (I had always liked jelly beans anyway) and a Pumpkin Pastie, just in case. We retreated back into the compartment as more people began to approach the witch and her candy. Just as I was about to slip into the compartment however, the witch put a hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked at her, staring into her brown eyes, that were searching my face, as if she recognized me from sometime long ago.

"What's your name?"she asked me, not without kindness.

"Aurelia ?" I couldn't help tacking on. The witch's eyes widened fractionally.

"Oh no reason dear. You just remind me of someone that's all."

"Who?" I demanded, but the witch was already pushing the trolley briskly down the corridor, not stopping in front of anymore compartments, vanishing from view. I shook my head before returning to my seat, sliding the glass door behind me as I went. Fred and George had already bitten into their cakes.

"What was that about?" Fred asked through his food.

"I don't know." I said honestly. Eager to change the subject, I looked down at the candy in my hand. I set aside the Pumpkin Pasty and inspected the Beans. It was a red and white striped box with the words _Bertie Blotts's Every Flavor Beans—A Risk With Every Mouthful! _emblazoned on the front.

"What do they mean a risk?" I asked.

"Try it and see." George replied. I searched his face for any hint of what was in store, but finding nothing, opened the box and gingerly picked out a murky green one. I stared at it.

"Eat it." Fred urged. Obediently, I put in my mouth. I began to chew, and was immediately disgusted.

"Ew, gross! It tastes like olives" I complained around the tiny bean. Fred and George laughed and high fived.

"Go on, swallow. You can do it." George said. Making a face the entire time, I did as he suggested. At once, the gross flavor melted away.

"Why did it taste like an olive? That's not a very good flavor for candy." I said indignantly.

"When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor." Fred said, "There are really good ones, but then there are the bad ones. George got a boogey flavored on once." I glanced at George who winked at me. I couldn't tell whether he was serious, so I let it slide.

The train zoomed along, and we kept talking and munching through the candy we had bought as the sky darkened. As we got closer to Hogwarts, I felt more and more glad that I had Fred and George, who were turning out to be the best potential friends I had ever known. I hoped that we were put into the same house.

"Attention students, we are approaching the final destination. If you will please change into your robes and leave your luggage on the train when you disembark. They will be brought up to the school by other means of transportation. Thank you." The cool female voice clicked off.

We did as instructed, and I was happy when I was able to put my robes on correctly the first time. They had looked complicated to get on, but they weren't as hard as I had originally thought, saving me from embarrassment. I felt a thrill of anticipation as we walked out into the corridor and into the swarm of students trying to get out of the door.

A rush of crisp night air hit me when I finally made it out onto the platform, flanked by the redheaded twins.

"First years over here! All first years!" A loud gruff voice called ahead of us. I looked up and Fred, who shrugged, and continued to push through the crowd after his brother. I followed him, and the voice, which continued to lead me to a giant man with a thick, wild beard and a matching mane of hair. Despite his intimidating appearance, he had a twinkle in his black eyes that made me like him immediately.

"I am Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. All o' you first years come with me." he said to the group of us assembled. He led us down a dirt path that winded gently down a hill. The path ended abruptly, at the shores of a large lake. There were wooden boats sitting in the black water, bumping each other gently due to the proximity.

"All right, four to a boat. Careful getting in, don't want any of you meeting the Giant Squid." Hagrid said as he climbed into a boat himself. Fred, George and I all scrambled into a boat together. We were followed by a dark skinned boy with dreads as wild as Hagrid's beard.

"Lee Jordan." he said, sticking his hand out, which we all shook. With a small start, the boats took off, the only light coming from a lantern hung in the bow of the boat. Without any sound, we glided along, cutting a clean path through the dark. No one spoke, even Fred and George remained silent. We rounded a corner, and there it was: Hogwarts. The light from a thousand windows shaped the night sky, transforming it into a castle, it's towers piercing the stars. Everyone was staring in awe as the castle drew closer, so that no one noticed that as one by one, the boats docked. When they finally stilled, Fred jumped out first, holding the boat to make sure that it stayed still. There was no need, but I thought that it was a nice gesture.

Hagrid led the way up stone stairs, and there was nothing but anticipation and the echos of feet on stone that surrounded us as we climbed. What if I didn't get sorted? What if I failed and I was tossed out? Could that even happen? What if no House wanted me? "Ahem." A voice above us said.

There was a woman waiting at the top of the stairs, dressed in a black robe and a pointy witch hat. She had a stern looking face, and I knew right away that this would not be a person I would want on my bad side. Hagrid walked up to her side.

"Here they are Professor." he said.

"Thank you Hagrid." Even her voice was stern. Hagrid nodded, and then disappeared through a door in the wall. When he closed it, the sound echoed off the walls. The Professor turned to us. We all stared up at her.

"I am Professor McGonagall. I teach Transfiguration, one of the classes here at Hogwarts, and am Deputy Headmistress. In a minute, you will pass through these doors" she gestured at the great golden doors behind her "and be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. While you are here, your house is your family. Remember that." she said, sweeping her gaze around at us all. I nodded, and George nudged me. I glanced at him, and blushed slightly at the sight of the corner of his mouth tweaked up in a small grin.

"Follow me." Professor McGonagall said, and with a sweep of her robes, led us through the doors. I tried not to gasp. We were in a humongous hall, with four long tables filled with students leading up to a table at the front, filled with older people who I guessed were teachers. In a gold chair at the center of the teacher's table sat Professor Dumbledore, in robes of deep purple. His beard dipped below the table out of sight. Behind him was a banner with the same coat of arms that had been on my letter, a lion, raven, badge and snake around a large letter H. Professor McGonagall led us between thr two middle tables and up to the front, where a rickety three legged stool stood, a just as worn hat sitting on it.

The silence in the hall was palpable. I looked around, everyone was staring intently at the hat. Then a rip opened at the brim, and it began to sing. It sang of the four houses, and the traits of the four founders looked for from people they were accepting into their houses. Gryffindor was brave, Ravenclaw wise and clever, Hufflepuff just and loyal, Slytherin ambitious and cunning. I couldn't decide which house I wanted to be in, but I was most worried about them accepting me. I didn't feel very brave, I had average grades, I wasn't good-tempered and I wasn't very shrewd. When the song was over Professor McGonagall stepped up next to the hat, with a large scroll in one hand. She looked down at us.

"When I call your name, you will step up and try on the hat to be sorted into your houses." she informed us.

"Allen, Natalia!" A girl with nervousness in her gray eyes stepped up. She sat on the stool, and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. It fell so that it covered her eyes. She sat there for a minute before the brim ripped open and shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" Professor McGonagall lifted the hat of the now smiling Natalia to wild applause from one of the tables. Natalia got up and sat down at the table as the clappin subsided.

"Amrose, Tyler!" A straw haired boy got sorted into Ravenclaw as soon as the hat touched his head. Butterflies began to fly in my stomach. I was sure that I was next, and that no house would have me. Professor McGonagall would take the hat off my head and tell me that I had to leave, that there was no place for me here.

"Black, Aurelia!" Professor McGonagall called. I gulped, but walked up to the stool, trying to keep my face expressionless, like I did this everyday. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on my head, and the world disappeared. A voice spoke inside my head.

"Very interesting, very interesting. I haven't had a Black to sort in a while. And you, well, you aren't like them at all. Your mother—ooh, this is interesting. The lengths that have been gone to protect you and yours, my dear you have absolutely no idea. But where to place you? The bravery in you makes you a great match for—GRYFFINDOR!"

The last was shouted to the entire room. I felt the tension leave my shoulders as the lights came back on and I could see my house clapping for me. I smiled at went to sit down at the table. I glanced up at the faculty table, where Profesor Dumbledore was applauding. He smiled at me as the sorting continued. The next person to join me at the Gryffindor table was a thin girl with light brown hair named Penelope Davids. Cedric Diggory joined the Hufflepuff table as we smiled at each other.

More and more people got sorted, but Fred and George stayed amongst the quickly thinning crowd. Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet and Kenneth Towler joined me before Professor McGonagall called "Weasley, Frederick!" As soon as the hat touched his fiery head, it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Fred sat down at the table and cast an anxious look back at his brother. It was then that I realized that I wasn't the only person who was worried about their sorting. What if Fred and George got put in seperate houses? I tried to imagine them apart and it was just impossible. Lucky for Fred, George sat down an the empty seat next to him.

Finally, when "Xavier, Derek!" was sorted into Slytherin, the sorting was over and Professor McGonagall carried the hat and stool away. As soon as she had exited, Professor Dumbledore stood.

"I have several announcements that I wish to make, but those can wait for later. Enjoy." he smiled as suddenly, the golden dishes that had previously been empty filled with food. Everything looked amazing: there was steak and potatoes, a roast that was still sizzling in it's dish, fish and chips, roast chicken, a whole turkey and a million other things that made my mouth water. During the meal, I talked to Alicia Spinnet, who was sitting across from me. She was a half-blood, which I learned meant someone who had one muggle parent and one wizard parent. Her green eyes sparkled as she talked.

When the meal was over, and the desserts (which had been as spectacular as the entrees) had magically faded away from the table Professor Dumbledore rose once again. The hall immediately quieted. His beard was still a snow white, and I was curious as to how he managed to eat without getting food in it.

"Welcome to all our new students, and to the old hands, welcome back! It's going to be another exciting year here. A few quick notices before we can retire, however. First, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Second, there is a list of banned joke items which now contains four hundred and ten items. Anyone with questions can contact our caretaker, Mr. Filch," here, he gestured down the faculty table to an old and wretched looking man, with unkempt gray hair and a bitter look on his face, "or visit his office to see the list in it's entierty."

I noticed Fred and George sneak a look at each other and grin the same grin that had been plastered all over their faces at Flourish and Blotts when the manager had fallen right into their trap. The looked back at me and winked. I smiled back, happy to be included in their friendship and more thankful than ever that we had been put into the same house.

"And finally, we have a new appointment in our staff. Please give a warm welcome to Professor Platts, who will be taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts position." Applause rang out through the hall for a burly man with black hair that was standing at the faculty table. He reminded me of my old gym teacher, someone with thick musceles and an even thicker head.

"Now, unless anyone has anything else, it's time for bed. Off you go!" he said. Immediately, there was a rush as the school rose and began to separate. I looked at Fred and George, unsure where to go or what to do. They were looking just as unsure, but then there was a clear voice ringing through the masses. "Gryffindor first years over here! Gryffindor first years this way please!"

I fell in step with Fred and George as we headed to the voice, which turned out to belong to a girl with strawberry blonde hair. Standing next to her was a boy about her age, with a smile on his round face.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" he said. "I am Scott and this is Amy." Amy smiled, and picked up where Scott had left off. "We're the Gryffindor fifth year prefects, and we're going to show you to our common room. Just follow us." Together they turned, and exited the Great Hall. We followed them, not talkimg much. We walked up one of the many staircases silently until "AAAAAAAAAAHH!"

I looked above me, searching for the noise. In front of us, Penelope had fallen onto the ground, clawing at the steps in front of her. Her left leg had gone into the step she had been walking on. Fred stuffed his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing, and George doubled over, unable to contain himself. I had to bit back a chuckle myself, even though I was worried about Penelope. Angelina was smirking to herself and I tried not to dislike it. There was something self-serving and superior in her face that I didn't trust. Scott hurried down the stairs, and to her side.

"Shh!" he told her. "If you stop screaming I can get you out. Wait a moment." He told her. Although he spoke very fast, there was a soothing manner about his tone that made me like him. He knelt down on the stairs, facing Penelope. He grabbed her under her arms and yanked. At once, she came free, and Scott lifted her onto her feet as he rose up himself. He let her go, and she brushed herself off, her cheeks red from embarrassment.

"Thanks." she told him. He grinned back at her.

"Anytime." He turned to the rest of us.

"Those are called trick stairs. There are several of them here at Hogwarts. You'll learn them all quickly, and it will become second nature for you to jump over all of them. Don't worry, there are only two of them." He turned and continued walking. We were all careful to jump over the step, and the rest of the walk up to the Gryffindor common room was uneventful. We stopped in front of a huge portait of a fat lady. She looked down at us regally, and I was only half surprised when she spoke.

"Password?" She asked in a throaty voice.

"Banana peel." Amy said. The Fat Lady inclined her head, and the portriat swung forward, revealing a hole in the wall behind her painting. Amy climbed through, followed by Scott. I followed Fred, and when we were all in, and the portait hole shut Amy spoke again.

"That's the Fat Lady, she guards the common room, keeping all but Gryffindors out by way of the password. It changes often, so watch out. They aren't hard to remember though—but she gets kind of irritable if you wake her up at night, so no sneaking out." She stared at each of us in turn, concentrating on Fred and George. They had the air of troublemakers, even if you had just met them. They stared innocently back at her, like they had no idea what she was talking about.

"This is the Gryffindor common room. The boys dormitories are up the stairs on your left, girls on the right. All your belongings have already been brought up. I know you might want to explore, but it's a full day of classes tomorrow, and I expect that you're all tired." Scott said. He gestured to the boys, who followed him up the left staircase. Amy led us across the warm and cozy room, filled with comfortable but sturdy looking furniture, and up the staircase to a door with a sign marked FIRST YEARS. She bade us goodnight and made sure we were all safely in the room before closing the door and continuing up the winding stone staircase, presumably up to her own bed.

I hadn't realized how tired I was until Scott had mentioned it downstairs. The room had four four-poster beds, all with red covers and hangings. There were trunks of stuff beside every bed. I found mine between Alicia's and Penelope's. I changed quickly into my pajamas and the got into bed, grateful for the warm sheets, and the hotpans between the bedsheets. I barely had time to feel happy and relaxed before sleep claimed me.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, waking me up. I sat up and pulled back the hangings. Penelope was opening her trunk and pulling out her robes. I got out of bed and found my hairbrush, pulling it through my hair. Angelina and Alicia got up as well, and we all pulled on our Gryffindor ties, without a word to each other, still tired. I was walking across the room and getting ready to go down to breakfast when Angelina spoke.

"What's wrong with you eyes?" she asked me, from her bed near the door. I surveyed her, a little shocked.

"What do you mean?" I asked coldly. She finished lacing up her shoes before responding.

"I mean, they're funny. What's wrong with them?" She stood, still watching me. I took a breath, tellig myself that it was too soon to dislike one of my roommates for the next seven years.

"Nothing's _wrong _with them. They're my eyes. What's wrong with yours?"

"Nothing. They're normal. Yours are freakish." That hit where it hurt. I shook it off and gave her a look that should have sent her baack to bed in fear. Instead she stood her ground.

"Thank you for that. I value your opinion so deeply, just like I hope you value mine. I hope you don't mind when I tell you that your face looks like death and I'm surprised that one look doesn't send people six feet under." I smiled at her stunned expression and left the room for breakfast and Fred and George.


	5. An Hour of Play

_Here is chapter 4 of Gold Heart. Thanks for reading and if you want to review, I wouldn't mind :) Thank you to everyone who added this story to some kind of alert system, it means a lot. These next few chapters will skip through the years rather fast, because it's all about getting to 3rd year, where Harry arrives and the action really picks up. _

**Anything you recognize (including characters, setting and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"_You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." -Plato_

_Dear Mrs. Weasley, _

_Thank you so much for the sweater. It was really nice of you to take the time to knit me one, especially since you've never actually met me. It's actually the nicest Christmas present that I've ever gotten and how did you know what gold would match my eyes? Anyway, it looks really great over the red and is very Gryffindor spirit, which of course I am all for. I really hope that I'll get to meet you soon and thank you properly for the sweater!_

_Thank you, _

_Aurelia_

I put my quill down and reread the letter, watching as the glistening ink dried. I was sitting on the floor in front of the crackling fire, in an absolutely empty Gryffindor common room. Fred and George were off somewhere in the castle making mischief. I usually helped them, but today I was nursing a bad cold, so I had opted to stay close to bed. It was the end of the winter holidays and tomorrow, everyone would return. Fred and George had stayed with me at Hogwarts, because last minute their parents had been invited to visit Charlie in Romania. This was Charlie's first year there, so his parents were anxious to see him settled. I sealed the letter and addressed it The Burrow, the way Fred had told me too. Later I would take it up to the owlery and borrow one of the school owls. But now was the time to relax, I leaned back against the chair, reveling in at my level of comfort. This was the first time I had really been able to pause and reflect on my first year at Hogwarts, which was almost half-way over.

It had without a doubt been the best time of my life. I felt a home here, in a way that I never had before at the Jensons. I absolutely loved it, and if I could, I would never leave. The classes were never boring—except for History of Magic. Taught by a ghost named Professor Binns, it was the most boring class in existence. It was even worse than Pre-Algebra. On the other hand, the best class was Transfiguration. I had been right that Professor McGonagall was strict, but she had a dry sense of humor that always made me smile. And then there was Professor Snape. He taught Potions, and was downright evil to anyone who wasn't in his house: Slytherin, home to some of the meanest people that I had ever met.

One of my most favorite days was the day when we had been taught to fly. Madame Hooch was a sharp eyed woman with short gray hair, and I hadn't expected much out of her but she had ended up giving me one of the best gifts ever: flying. It had come naturally to me, almost like breathing. The feeling of the air whipping through my ponytail, the speed of the broom was incredible and perfect. I had been upset when Fred and George had told me that first years weren't allowed on the House Quidditch teams. Once they explained what Quidditch actually was, I promised myself that next year, I would make the team. When I was next in Diagon Alley, I was going to buy myself a broom. Fred and George had hopes to make the team next year too, and they promised that they would practice with me.

"We'll make sure you don't stink too bad." Fred had said, following up with his trademark grin.

The rest of the Gryffindor first years were nice too, with one exception. My relationship with Angelina Johnson had gotten no better since the first day at Hogwarts. Everything about her annoyed me—the insensitivity that she thought was funny, but was actually rude, how she was amazing at flying, her fake smile, and most of all, the way no one else seemed to have a problem with her. Fred and George like good friends, were affronted when I told them about the rude remarks that she continually aimed at me, but since she was nice to them, they didn't outright hate her the same way that I did. I exhaled loudly in frustration.

The loud banging of people stumbling loudly through the portrait hole made my eyes fly open. Instinctively, I reached for my wand, but then Fred and George appeared, breathing heavily and holding stitches in their sides.

"Aurelia—we—talk—found—something—important-" Fred gasped, collapsing on the floor next to me. His chest rose and fell rapidly.

"What is it?" I asked, glancing from Fred to George in alarm. George sat down next to his brother with a thud, his cheeks pink. They didn't respond for a minute, too busy catching their breath, but Fred extended his arm out towards me, as if he was on his death bed and handing me some ancient possession. I leaned forward, confused about what he was trying to do, when I saw the parchment stuffed in his hand. I had to uncurl his fingers to be able to take it. It was old, I held it lightly, afraid that if I griped it too hard it would crumble. It was folded over in many ways, but there was no writing on it anywhere. I looked up at the twins, who were beginning to show signs of recovery.

"What is this supposed to be?" I asked them.

"That's the thing—we don't know. We were hoping you could help us figure it out. It's important though." Fred said.

"How'd you get it?"

"Well we were dropping dungbombs by Snape's dungeon when Filch caught us."

"He dragged us into his office and starting threatening the usual stuff, you know—"

"Detention and disembowelment." I said automatically, all too familiar with Filch's threats.

"Yeah those, and that's when we noticed his file cabinets. Don't know how we never noticed them before, but there was a drawer marked **Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.**" George said. I smiled, sure where this story was going. Fred picked up the story seamlessly. I was always impressed at this talent of theirs—the ability to interrupt each other's sentences, but continue in the same way the other was going to. It was like they shared a brain or something.

"George dropped another dungbomb to distract Filch. I went around the desk, opened the drawer and grabbed it. We had to run back here, Filch is on warpath, though he doesn't know that we took anything." They looked very impressed with themselves, and I high-fived both of them.

"So..." I said, letting my sentence trail off.

"So you were always the brain behind the operation, figure out how it works." said Fred, stretching lazily out in front of the fire, his eyes closed.

"How do you know that it does anything?" I asked.

"Why else would Filch have put in that drawer?" George reasoned. "I don't think he knows how it works, though." he continued, more to himself than us.

"Well that sucks. Now we can't go ask him for the instruction manual." Fred replied sarcastically. I whacked him with the couch pillow.

"Ouch." he deadpanned. I ignored him, knowing that it hadn't hurt and turned to the blank piece of paper, that according to Fred and George, was hiding some great secret. I put my wand on the parchment lightly.

"Reveal your secret." I said. Nothing happened.

"Boom?" Fred suggested. He had opened his eyes and was propped up on his elbows, watching. George snorted.

"Can you shut him up?" I asked George.

"No." George replied insolently. I glared at him, but I couldn't keep the smile off my face. There was a bang, and I whipped my head around. Fred now had his wand out, and was pointing it at the fire, which had turned bright purple. It would have been cool, except now the fire was pouring out bad smelling smoke into the common room. I held my nose, while Fred, coughing, spoke a counter spell. Where he learned this stuff, I had no idea, since he didn't exactly hang around in the library all day. How didn't really mater though, since at once the smell and the smoke vanished, and the fire returned to it's original color.

"Can you ever not cause trouble?" I asked Fred, grinning.

"Nope." he said, popping the 'p'. "I'm always causing trouble. Don't you remember what I told you? The oath Bill would always make us say whenever he caught us pulling pranks?"

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." I recited, looking down at my hands, which were still holding the parchment. Fred said something in response, but I didn't pay attention.

"You guys! Come here! Look at this!" They scrambled over, and looked down at the parchment. Thin spidery strands of ink were running along the parchment, joining together, twisting, turning, forming shapes that disappeared under the folds of the parchment. On the top fold, right in the middle, the ink formed letters.

_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs_

_are proud to present_

_the Marauder's Map_

Fred, George and I exchanged looks.

"Wicked." Fred and George breathed. I opened up the Marauder's Map. Not only was it an intricate map of Hogwarts, including at least five secret passages that we didn't know even existed, but there were also little dots walking around the map, all labeled different people.

"Is that really where they are right now?" Fred asked, his finger moving with Dumbledore who was pacing in his study.

"Yeah—cause see there's Filch in his office. And there we are in the Gryffindor common room." George said, pointing to three tiny dots.

"Look at all these secret passages." I said, tracing one that started from behind a fourth floor mirror with my finger.

"They're awesome—some of them even go into Hogsmeade." Fred said, leaning closer to inspect the map more carefully.

"Do you think Filch knows about any of them?" George asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly, "some of them he might know about, but he can't know about all of them."

"I'm sure that he isn't one of these original mapmakers though. I mean, he isn't that cool, and it doesn't fit. I wonder who they are though." George said thoughtfully.

"I wish we could meet them. I think I'm in love." said Fred, examining a shortcut that was concealed behind a tapestry on the fifth floor.

"I mean, I'm sure that we would have figured all this out, it just would have taken longer, possibly all seven years." I said.

"And with this, we can see where everyone is." George said.

"What their doing every minute-" Fred picked up.

"Of every day!" George finished triumphantly, as if he had personally designed the map.

There was a moment of silence as we each examined a different part of the map, marveling at something new each second. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.

"This is so cool." I said. Fred and George nodded their agreement, their eyes still fixed on the map. I looked at them, matching wide eyes and amazed expressions, more focused than I'd ever seen them. As if sensing my gaze, Fred looked up at me, his eyes meeting mine.

"You're the best Aurs, we never would have figured that out." he said. I blushed slightly, even though there was no real reason to.

"You were the reason that I said it." I told him, determined not to take all the credit.

"Okay, so 'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good' opens the map, but how do you get it to wipe blank again?" George asked us. At once, a tiny speech bubble appeared next to George's dot, saying 'Mischief Managed'.

"Mischief managed." George copied. At once, the castle faded from the paper, the heading disappearing along with the people. The Marauder's Map became what it had been when we found it, an old piece of parchment that looked like it would be more use feeding flames. We all looked up at each other again. Then Fred and George cracked identical grins.

"Do you realize how much help this will be?" George asked Fred.

"Did you see all those secret passages?" Fred asked George at the same time.

"We'll be able to sneak around and not get caught!" I said happily. Grinning like fools, Fred lay back down on the floor, and George sank into an armchair.

"Whoever Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are, they have just become my new heros." Fred said tiredly, flopping onto his back.

"We owe them so much." said George.

Too quickly, it was June, and the end-of-year exams were upon us. Fred and George were keeping their cool quite nicely, but I had lost it. The thought of being dismissed from Hogwarts was too much—I needed to pass these exams. Fred and George had both tried to reassure me, "you're going to do fine, you've been getting good results all year." they said. And while it was true, it only did a miniscule amount to reassure me. For the first time in my life, I was spending extensive amounts of time in the library rereading old notes, old chapters of books I had forgotten existed, and muttering spells under my breath.

Fred and George joined me sporadically, but most of the time it was just me in at a table alone, which was why I was so surprised when I heard the squeaking of chairs against the wood. I looked up and sitting in the two seats across from me were Fred and George.

"What?" I demanded, my voice high and stressed out. It shocked me, I couldn't remember when I had cared so much about my grades.

"We're worried about you." Fred said, George nodding fervently. I felt faintly affronted.

"I'm fine." I said, even though we all knew that it wasn't true.

"No you're not." George said bluntly. "You spend most of your time in here, you hardly sleep and you hardly eat."

"Okay fine, maybe I'm a little nervous. But you don't understand, if you don't pass you'll be upset, but you'll still live in the Wizarding World—able to watch Quidditch and get the Daily Prophet. But me? If I fail, I have to go back to living with the Jensons, and I'll never be able to use or be around magic again. And I can't do that, not now that I know that this is here, this other world." I hissed at them, angry at their inability to understand. Both looked slightly alarmed, but Fred looked slightly put out too.

"And we would just abandon you there? I'm glad you have some faith in our friendship Aurelia. You honestly think that we wouldn't talk to you again, just because you didn't pass first year exams? How thick are you? Of course we would. But it doesn't matter, because you're going to pass, and you've done far too much studying." Fred told me.

"But I have to go over all the ingredients that we've used in Potions, and what they are-"

"I think not." said George, cutting over me loudly and holding up a hand to silence me. "We are taking you away to pull some nice, healthy pranks."

"I don't think I can." I said doubtfully, shifting parchment out of the way so I could pull another book towards me.

"It's non-negotiable." Fred informed me. "What if we told you we were planning one for your best friend, Angelina?" I looked up at them. They looked dead serious. My resolve began to crumble.

"I guess I could..." I trailed off, slightly embarrassed at the defeat in my tone and the triumphant looks on their faces.

"That's what we thought." George said, reaching over and shutting my books. He pulled all of my materials toward him, and gathered them in his arms. We all stood up, Fred holding my arm, as if to make sure that I didn't try to run away. He needn't have worried though, pranking Angelina Johnson was an opportunity that I just could not miss out on.

"How is this going to work?" I asked. George hardly looked back as he answered. I felt slightly bad with him carrying all of my work. I knew first hand that it wasn't the lightest thing to carry.

"Well, at the moment Angelina is in the common room, studying Charms alone."

"And you know this how?" I questioned him. Fred just squeezed my arm, and I knew immediantly that they had come across the information by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

"Anyway," George continued in a brisk tone that left no room for interruption, "I will go up to her and pretend to ask a question. She is sitting in an armchair by the fire, so you and Fred will hade behind the couch, and launch one of the stinksap pellets."

Fred pulled an acid green pellet out of his pocket and showed it to me. I grinned. When hit, this tiny thing would spout a sticky green sap that not only smelled bad, but was almost impossible to get off. Which meant that we would need a direct hit for this to be truly effective.

In front of the portrait hole we did a little re arranging of the books. George took the Charms notes, and handed everything else off to Fred and I, who would walk innocuously to a table next to the couch we would be hiding behind. We would dump the stuff and then dodge behind the couch unseen.

Lucky for us, the common room was empty, except for Angelina and a couple of fifth years, to engaged in their own studying to pay much attention to a couple of lowly first years. Everyone else had gone outside, to enjoy the sun and the break from academics. George walked ahead of Fred and I, and cut over to Angelina, who was indeed sitting in front of the fireplace, which was fire free at the moment. He engaged her artfully in conversation (Fred and George were well-liked by all) and distracted her from Fred and I getting in place behind the couch. Crouching, Fred once again pulled out the stinksap pellet. He held it out to me, mischief in his eyes.

"Are you up to the challenge?" he asked quietly.

"Oh yeah." I said, taking the pellet from him. I rolled it around between my fingers, getting a feel for it. At once, I was on my feet, and launching the pellet. It arced beautifully, and I ducked back behind the couch before it could land, but the scream that followed assured me that it had been a bullseye. Fred grabbed my elbow, and we crawled quickly to our respective dormitory stairs before we stood and pretended to have been walking down the stairs. Only standing could I truly appreciate the full picture. Angelina was on her feet, covered in the acid green sap that had been not a minute ago, been condensed in my hand. Most of the sap stuck to her, but a few droplets dripped off as she shook her hands rapidly. George was still sitting, trying to be concerned, but failing miserably: even from the foot of the girl's staircase I could see his shoulders shaking in laughter.

I glanced at Fred, and we rejoined each other, walking towards Angelina and George. She wiped the sap off her face and opened her eyes just in time to see me.

"You!" she screamed, making the fifth years look up, laugh, and then return to work.

"Angelina you look terrible!" I said, my voice concerned. "What happened?"

"You know very well what happened. It's stinksap and I bet you threw it yourself, you freak! You're awful, and you shouldn't have any friends. Just by looking at you, I knew that you'd be like this, a freak, and who'd want to waste time with a freak?"

"We would." said Fred.

"Well that's your mistake isn't it? And sooner or later, you'll see just how little of your friendship she actually deserves. I mean, you're nice guys, and one day you'll figure it out."

"You know, you can't prove that I threw that. These are all unfounded accusations." I said unaffected by the knives she'd been throwing at me.

"I just know you did it, you little weasel. I'll get you back for this!" She screamed, before elbowing past me and Fred and running up the girl's staircase. We made it until she disappeared before cracking up.

"She can't take a joke can she?" George said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"If I were you Aurs, I would be worried about sleeping in the same room as her." chuckled Fred.


	6. Happiness Shared

_I cannot say sorry enough. I also apologive in advance for the shortness of the chapter—but I had to post. Things have been busy, and I am working through the "but you're so perfect in my head! There's no way I can write you as well as you deserve" stage that usually happens around this time. Don't worry though, it is passing, and I should be back on track as they begin to age, which will happen much more rapidly now that she is a part of the Wizarding World. Please review or send me a message—especially if you have constructive ideas about Aurelia. I am wondering if she seems to unlikely a friend for the twins. She is supposed to be much more serious than they are, but if it seems that her light hearted side is not showing through, I would appreciate your thoughts. Also, that you to everyone who added this story or me to some favorite list, reviewed or sent me a message. These simple things make my day and encourage me to keep at it. Thanks, and enjoy!_

**Anything you recognize (including characters, setting and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"Happiness never decreases by being shared." -Buddha

Luckily, Fred and George were right. I had studied enough. I passed all of my exams with remarkably good grades. At least, they were better than Fred and George's. Although they had more important things to be upset about.

"No magic outside of school?" Fred complained, slumping into a seat across from me. We were back on the Hogwarts Express for the journey back to London.

"I know right? I was really looking forward to terrorizing Chloe and Tiffany this summer." I agreed.

"Yeah, but at least you can threaten them. They don't know that you can't do magic outside do they? Our mum on the other hand..." George said darkly, taking the seat next to me as the train began to move.

"That's true." I said vaguely, letting the sentence trail off. I was too busy pressing my nose against the glass, trying to get a last look at Hogwarts. I watched the great castle, it's towers spiking up into the sky for as long as I could, before we rounded the bend and it disappeared from view. I settled back down into my seat to find Fred and George watching me.

"What?" I asked, trying not to sound to defensive.

"It's not forever." George said.

"Feels like it." I muttered.

"Oh come on, we'll be back in no time. How about a game of Exploding Snap?" Fred asked, pulling the cards out of his pockt and waving them temptingly in front of my face.

"Alright." I said smiling. I knew that I was overreacting somewhat. But going back to the Jensons' felt more like exile than a vacation. The rest of the train ride passed quickly, with multiple games of Exploding Snap and trading Chocolate Frog Cards. I managed to forget the Jensons right up until we pulled into the train station. I followed Fred and George off the train with only a little hesitation. I tried not to get too sentimental when we passed through the barrier that lead back into the Muggle world.

"Fred! George!" I head a woman calling.

"That's our mum calling." they said, pointing to a short woman with hair as bright as theirs.

"Goodbye then." I said, turning my trolley around to try and find Max.

"Are you crazy? You're coming to meet her." Fred said, pulling me along with them before I could even protest.

"Hi Mum!" they said brightly as they joined her.

"Oh how nice to see you two again! Didn't get into too much trouble did you? I think that two owls home is a little much for a first year, boys. Who is this?" She stopped short when she faced me.

"This is our friend Aurelia, Mum." George said.

"Well of course she is. You wrote such a lovely thank you note for the sweater, I couldn't believe that Fred and George had made a friend that polite. And aren't you lovely as well!" she said, sweeping me up into a hug as I blushed beet red. She released me.

"Do you have anyone meeting you here, dear?" she asked kindly.

"Um, yes. My foster parents. They're right over there." I motioned at Max and Arlene, standing a few feet away. Arlene saw us looking and pointed angrily at her watch.

"Mmm." said Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm afraid I have to go." I said. " Nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley. Bye Fred, bye George."

"See you Aurelia. We'll write you." they said, hugging me at the same time, leaving me gasping for breath between a Weasley sandwich.

"Bye." I said, smiling. "Maybe I'll even write you back." I pushed my trolley around and walked toward the Jensons, blithely ignoring Fred and George's nasty looks.

"About time." Arlene said when I reached them. "Do you realize that I have a hair appointment in less than 20 minutes?"

"It's nice to see you too, Arlene." I said cheerfully. I was determined not to be put down by any of them this summer.

"I wish I could say the same." she said nastily. "It's been a lot nicer without your abnormality around the house."

"Arlene." Max said gently.

"What? Max I know you agree with me. You said it yourself!" We exited the train station and began to pile into the car. I was slightly shocked by Max's reprimand, however quiet it was.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that we have to say it to the child's face." he said, starting the car and backing out of his spot. I tried not to laugh at Arlene's face. Maybe this summer would be more amusing than I thought.

_Aurelia!_

_ Can you believe that it's late August already? We told you this summer would fly by faster than you could imagine! Anyway, we're going to be in Diagon Alley on the 27__th__ and you should come too, because we want to be there when you get your broom. You are getting one so you can be on the Quidditch team right? They have a lot of open spots this year. Also, you could come back to the Burrow with us for the last few days of vacation. You need to practice so that you don't totally stink up the tryouts. Just kidding! Let us know. If you can come, Gringotts, 10:00. _

_ Fred and George_

Even after reading it at least 5 times, I still grinned at the note, written in their messy writing and with playful teasing. I had written them back right away to let them know that I was coming. Of course, the fact that I had to bring all my school stuff made walking through Diagon Alley incredibly difficult. Thankfully, Tom had let me leave my trunk in the storage room of the Leaky Cauldron. There was Gringotts, as big and startlingly white as I remembered it from the previous year. Fred and George stood on the steps next to their Mum. I waved at them. They grinned and ran down the steps to meet me.

"It's so good to see you!" I said, hugging Fred.

"We've missed you so much! Pranking hasn't been quite the same without your brains behind the operation. We've been caught more."

"Not that that stops you." I said, releasing Fred in order to give George a hug.

"You'd be disappointed in us if we gave up that easily." scoffed George.

"True." I laughed, and followed them back up the steps to meet Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley!" I said.

"Hello Aurelia, it's good to see you again. Now that can't have be all you've brought with you. Where's your trunk?"  
>"Tom the bartender let me put it in a storage room for safekeeping." I explained.<p>

"Well then, we'll pick it up when we leave. Now, I said that I would pick up a few things for Arthur while I was here. Fred, George, I'll buy your new books, but you need to be in charge of everything else." she said, handing them a little bag of money. "And I know that Aurelia is going to be buying a broom, I absolutely forbid you to spend your money on anything in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Do you hear me?"

"Yes mum." they nodded sullenly. I could see their brains working to try to find a loophole in her order though.

"Have a good time dears, and we'll see you at 11:30 in the Leaky Cauldron. And BEHAVE." Without a backwards glance, she walks off down the street. That's one of the things I really like about Mrs. Weasley, after issuing instructions, she trusts her kids completely. At once, I am filled with a rush of jealousy toward Fred and George. They're so lucky to have a family who actually loves them, and cares about them, and supports them in every way. All I have are the Jensons, who have been walking on eggshells around me all summer, making snide remarks when they think I'm out of earshot, and who actually thanked me for managing to find some people who would be willing to take me off their hands a few days early.

"See if they can't take you for the whole summer next year!" Chloe and Tiffany had shouted they had sped away as fast as they could.

"Aurelia? You ready?" Fred asked me, jolting me back to Diagon Alley.

"Yeah, hang on, I just have to get some money first." I said, feeling a little sheepish at my jealousy.

"Oh, we'll come with you." Fred offered.

"Oh! Um no, that's ok. You guys go on to the Quidditch Store and I'll meet you there." I say hurriedly. I don't know why, but suddenly I feel very embarrassed about my vault. I know that the Weasleys aren't the richest of families, and I feel awful thinking about the piles of gold in my vault, that I don't really need.

"Aurelia don't be silly. We haven't seen you in ages! And don't worry about not having a lot of money, you know that we aren't exactly the richest folks out there." George says, and Fred and George start up the steps, leaving me no choice but to follow them. Once we're in the hall, I quickly locate a goblin to take me down to the vault. I turn to the boys for one more plea.

"You guys really don't have to come. You can wait here." I try not to sound to desperate.

"No, we want to come. Those trolleys are the most fun things ever!" Fred says. I love the trolley ride too, but it's wrecked by what I know lies at the end of the ride. I feel awful right up to the minute that the goblin open up my vault to reveal the little mountains of money. That's when I feel absolutely horrible.

"Merlin's pants." George breathes, while Fred wolf whistles. I shovel coins into my bag and shut the vault as quick as I can. The goblin hands me back my key and I get back into the trolley. Fred and George follow, unaware that I don't want to talk about what just happened.

"Why didn't you tell us you were rich?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, we thought that since you;d been dumped on Muggles, you wouldn't have anything. Why didn't you tell us?" George echoed as the trolley picks up speed on the ascent back to the street.

"Because it isn't important. Are you going to stop being friends with me now that you know?"

"Of course not!" Fred and George respond, shocked.

"Then why does it matter?" I asked.

"Because we're friends. We've told you everything. Why can't you tell us stuff?" Fred said.

"I tell you stuff!" I said, stung.

"Not that." George points out. I sit in silence for a minute. We load out of the trolley and walk back onto the Alley in silence.

"Look, it doesn't matter. Let's go get your broom." George said. And just like that, it's forgotten.

We entered the Quidditch store, and at once, I was in love. It was warmly lit, and although it was squeezed in between Eelops Owl Emporium and a second hand bookstore, it seemed large. There was a strong smell of wood and new leather. Models of brooms were suspended in the air, and there were Quaffles stored in bins along the walls and Bludgers chained up beneath them.

"Wow." I breathed, spinning around, trying to look at everything at once.

"I know right? It's amazing." Fred said. I looked over at him. Even though I was sure that he had been in here before, his eyes were still as wide as mine.

"Can I help you?" A tall woman with her auburn hair done in a side braid asked.

"Um yes, I'm looking for a broom." I said. Her bright eyes fixed onto me and she smiled.

"Cool. Are your parents here or are you the bank?" she asked. I could feel George tense next to me, but I didn't find the question awkward. What I felt was awkward about my being an orphan was that I didn't have the slightest idea who my parents even were.

"It's just me. And these two." I told her. She glanced at Fred and George.

"And are you boys in the market for anything today?" Fred and George exchanged glances over my head.

"Just browsing." Fred replied. I rolled my eyes. If these two didn't walk out of the store with something, I was a Hufflepuff.

"Okay then. Follow me. My name is Allison by the way." she said, leading us to the back of the store, past posters for Quidditch teams, uniforms and broom service kits. She held open a curtain for us, and we ducked into a small room with a high ceiling and padded walls.

"Do you know what kind of broom you're looking for?" Allison asked.

"The best." I said at once. Fred and George snorted, but Allison only smiled.

"One Nimbus 1999 coming up." she said, taking out her wand.

"Accio!" she called, and at once a highly polished broom flew into the room and into her hand. She caught it deftly before handing it to me.

"I'm assuming you know how to fly." she said.

"Does she ever!" said Fred.

"Well, go on, have a test run. Just try not to crash into the walls." Allison said, a small smile on her face. I mounted the broom quickly and with ease, taking a moment before pushing off to feel the smooth wood beneath my hands. I kicked off hard, and began soaring around the room at once. It was like the broom knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I loved this feeling, even if I was in a tiny room instead of out on the Quidditch field. I could hear Fred and George clapping and hooting beneath me, but I managed to ignore them until they called my name in unison.

"AURELIA!" they bellowed up at me. I glanced down, and saw Fred throw something at me. I flew down and grabbed it, surprised to find that it was a rubber ball.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I called down. The twins grin up at me before joining hands so that they create a hole large enough to pass a soccer ball through.

"Score." Fred called up.

"Easy!" I replied, defying the slight nervousness I felt in my stomach. I plummeted down, and cocked my arm back, careful to keep my course steady. One flick of my wrist later and the ball is soaring through the air straight through the makeshift goal that Fred and George have created. I landed easily in front of the twins, touching down gently. The ball bounced against the padded wall and rolled back, stopping at my feet. I picked it up and handed it to Fred, who tucked it back into his pocket.

"How did that feel?" Allison asked me.

"Amazing." I said honestly, still exhilarated.

"It looked it too. I think you have a real talent." She said. I blushed and looked at my feet.

"Thanks." I said quietly, very embarrassed. This is the first time I have been told that I have some kind of talent.

"So I take it you'll take this one?" Allison asked. I nodded, trying to fight my blush down. Allison led us back out into the main part of the store, and we only stopped briefly to allow Fred and George to pick up a poster of the Wimbourne Wasps. Allison rings us up and I walk out of the store with a broom all my own, wrapped carefully in brown paper.

The rest of the shopping trip passes by in a blur, all I can really focus on besides Fred and George's jokes is the broom that I am holding carefully in my hands. When Mrs. Weasley offers to hold it while I get my trunk from the Leaky Cauldron storeroom, and I decline as politely as I can, keeping the look of horror off my face. Nobody is going to touch this broom. I can barely believe that it's real, and I am convinced that it it leaves my hands than it will evaporate.

I take a taxi back with the Weasleys to the Burrow, and I watch as the city fades away, replaced with rolling hills and green. The taxi trundles along the dirt road, turning a final corner before revealing a tall old house that looks like it could fall over any second. There is a sprawling garden outside the cheerful door, and an old shed off to the side. Father back, I think I can see a pond, sparkling brightly in the early afternoon sun.

"Welcome to the Burrow." Fred and George said from their seats on either side of me. The are staring at me nervously, I guess their trying to see whether I like it or not. I smile at them, still looking at the house as we get out of the car. It's true that it might not look like much, or be in the best shape, but the whole property exudes a warmth, happiness and openness, something that the pristine Jenson home never achieved at all.

As we walk up the path to the house, I grip my broom in one hand and pull my trunk in the other, I am still swinging my head from side to side, trying to look at everything. Fred and George are walking next to me, and they ask

"What do you think?" I look at them, their freckled faces nervous. I decided to tell them the truth.

"I think that this is my favorite place in the world."

They beam at me.


	7. You've Got a Friend in Me

_A/N: So here it is, Chapter 6. First off, as usual, thank you to all who read my story and put it on their favorites or some kind of story alert. I cannot express how much this means to me, so thank you very much! Second, I know that this chapter is rather long, but this should make up for the shorter chapter last time. Also, those chatterbox second years just refused to shut up :) Third, rereading that last chapter I noticed some horrible spelling mistakes and tense switching. I don't have a beta (not that that's an excuse) and I really wanted it up, so I didn't edit. That's fixed from now on. I PROMISE. Anyway, I'm on vacation at that moment in a place that only has internet in certain surrounding areas, so the next chapter is already part way written and will be up much sooner. Thank you for reading and please, **RECCOMEND **and **REVIEW! **Much love, Tarquin_

**Anything you recognize (including characters, setting and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am,**

**bigger and stronger too, maybe**

**but none of them will ever love you the way I do...**

**oh you've got a friend in me."**

**-You've Got A Friend in Me**

Wind rushed into my face as I soared through the air, a quaffle clutched tightly underneath my arm. Fred whooshed towards me and made a pass for the quaffle, trying to punch it out from underneath my arm. He cocked his arm back and I quickly whipped the quaffle out from under me and hurled it at Charlie, who caught it neatly as he raced up the field.

"Kids! Dinner!" called Mrs. Weasley, sticking her head out the door. I raced to catch up with Charlie, and he passed me the ball again, allowing me to be the one to score through the makeshift goal.

"I mean it!" Mrs. Weasley called again. Grinning, I touch back down on the ground. Only Mrs. Weasley's cooking could get me off the broom at this time of night. The sun was almost set, but was lighting everything up in a brilliant gold that snuck through three leaves, dappling the long grass.

"Nice job today." said Charlie, landing beside me. I only met him a few days ago, but I can already tell that he's the kind of person I could trust with anything. He's on a two week vacation at the moment, from his job in Romania working with dragons. At first I didn't quite believe that was his job, but the long burns and scars on his muscled forearms stopped all further disbelief.

"Thanks!" I replied, genuinely pleased. According to the Weasleys, Charlie was an amazing seeker, but he was playing Chaser to help me practice. He was pretty good at it as well.

"You've gotten really good." said George, landing next to us.

"Yeah, almost as good as George and I." said Fred, touching down next to his twin and pushing the hair out of his eyes. I punched him lightly in the arm as we made our walk back into the house.

The kitchen is was brightly lit and tightly packed, with heat radiating not only from the people milling around, but the steaming plates of Mrs. Weasley's cooking that had just been placed on the table.

"Wash your hands!" Mrs. Weasley told us as we entered the room. We did as we were told before sitting down at the table to eat. I took my seat in between Fred and George, while Charlie went up the table to sit next to Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley was a kind man, quickly balding, but the hair he had left was as fiery as his children's. He had a fascination with muggles that I didn't quite understand, but I always answered his questions as accurately as I could. Down the table towards the left sat Percy, a soon to be fourth year at Hogwarts. He had an uppity attitude and horn rimmed glasses, but a funny kind of vulnerability that made me not hate him on the spot, like I did most people with his outward persona.

"Have you all finished your packing?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she sat down, and the mad grab for the food began.

"Mostly." I said, while Fred and George stuffed food in their mouths to avoid having to answer the question. I nudged them both under the table. I knew that they hadn't done a thing.

"Ow!" I exclaimed softly as Fred stamped on my foot beneath the table. Mrs. Weasley gave me a questioning look.

"Oh, just bit my tongue. I'm okay, nothing to worry about." I said hastily. Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes at Fred and George, but allowed herself to be drawn into a conversation with Percy.

"Nice save." George muttered from the corner of his mouth, before diving back into his potatoes.

"So, are you excited to go back to Hogwarts?" Charlie asked me.

"I can hardly wait." I replied earnestly.

"Can you take me with you?" the little red head across the table from me asked. Ron, who, at 10, was the youngest Weasley boy, and filled with a sense of injustice that he had to wait another full year before going.

"I wish I could, " I said, "but I think Dumbledore would know, and then we'd both be in big trouble."

"He doesn't miss a thing." Charlie agreed, and Ron looked down at his food, annoyed, even though he had known the answer before he asked.

"Well, at least it's next year for you," piped up Ginny, "I have to wait TWO full years." Ginny was the youngest member of the family, and the only girl. But neither of those two things stopped her from ever loudly voicing her opinion.

"Well, it sucks to be you then, doesn't it?" said Ron, getting some of his energy back as the chance to tease his sister opened up.

"Yeah, it does, especially because I'm stuck here with you!" Ginny retorted. Fred, George and I burst out laughing as Ron's ears turned a bright embarrassed red.

"Nice one Ginny." said George, reaching across the table to give his sister a high five.

"Kids..." said Mr. Weasley, some what distractedly. On the table was a battery, a lightbulb, and a few wires that Mr. Weasley was fiddling with. He looked up and saw me watching.

"You don't in fact, know how this all goes together, do you? I'm trying to make the lightbulb light up."

"Sorry, Mr. Weasley, I don't. We did those when I was about eight, and anyways, that was the class where some kids thought it would be fun to whip batteries at me, so I was too busy ducking to pay attention to the actual lesson."

"Why? Those don't look like they would hurt." Fred said, eyeing the battery.

"Trust me, they can," I said. "see this scar here?" I asked, pushing my hair back to show him a small jagged scar right below my hairline.

"Yeah." he said, after taking a second to locate the injury.

"That's where one of them hit." I said bluntly, before returning to my meal. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. It was George, with a look of concern on his face. On my other side, Fred had the same look.

"Why would they do that?" George asked, a note of confusion in his voice.

"They don't like freaks." I responded.

"You aren't a freak." Fred countered quickly, and at once I remembered a similar conversation we had had on the Hogwarts Express last year.

"Maybe not to you, but to them I still am." I said, returning to my meal. Thankfully, Fred and George dropped it, and the conversation turned to other, light hearted things and joke cracking that made my sides hurt from laughing too hard.

An hour later we were all cleaned up from dinner and dessert, and I was feeling absolutely stuffed. Everyone was sitting in the comfy living room, sprawled in arm chairs or spread on the floor. From my position in an arm chair, I looked out the window and I could see the stars, twinkling out from the dark sky. Staring at them, I felt a sudden urge to go out and touch one. For the first time in a year, I felt a pull in my stomach that I associated with Change. I looked down, startled. It couldn't happen again. It wouldn't. I had to keep it hidden. Dumbledore had said that he didn't know of another witch or wizard who could do it. And if Dumbledore didn't know what to make of it, I sure wasn't going to fool around with it. I was unashamed to admit to myself that I was scared.

"You wanna go back out and play?" Fred asked, interrupting my train of thought. I glanced up at him quickly, meeting his eyes. His face was shining with anticipation.

"Yeah!" I said, sitting up and lacing up my shoes. George stood up to, and we almost got out the door before Mrs. Weasley spotted us.

"And where do you three think you're going?" she asked, from the seat where she was braiding Ginny's hair.

"Um, out to play some Quidditch." mumbled George, staring at his feet.

"No you're not. I know you two have barely packed a sock! You guys better get going if you don't want to wake up at three in the morning. Upstairs! Go!" she told them. For a moment it looked like they might retort, but she fixed them with a glare that gave them no choice but to retreat sullenly upstairs. I remained in the door frame, unsure what to do.

"You can stay Aurelia," said Mrs. Weasley kindly, tying an elastic around Ginny's hair with a final flourish, "you're packed." I smiled at her before resuming my seat, and my worries.

Steam billowed from the red train, curling around the people standing on the platforms like lovers. I walked close behind George, careful not to lose his figure in the steam. The last thing I needed was to get separated from them. At last we reach a door to the train that was not already being crowded by students and parents.

"All right dears," said Mrs. Weasley, turning to us, "have a good term." she began to go down the line, hugging Percy, George, me and Fred in turn. When she was done she fixed me and the twins with a firm stare.

"You three make sure that you stay out of trouble."

"Yes Mrs. Weasley." I said, giving her another hug and trying not to feel to guilty as the corner of the Marauder's Map pressed into my rib cage from where it was tucked away in my jacket's inside pocket. I gave the Weasley boys a minute alone with their mum as I heaved my trunk onto the train. I clambered up after it, and Fred and George appeared with their trunks.

"Where's Percy?" I asked, startled that he had disappeared so fast.

"Don't know, don't care." they said together as they climbed up onto the train.

"Come on, let's go find an empty compartment." Fred said, and we began walking along the crowded corridor as the train began to move, and the students all flocked to the the windows in order to wave one last goodbye to the parents still standing on the platform.

"Come on, this ones open!" said Fred, sliding the glass door open and stepping inside. We put our trunks up over our heads and flumped into seats, me across from Fred and George.

"Hey guys!" Lee Jordan, a fellow friend in Gryffindor said, flying into the compartment and taking a seat next to me.

"Hi Lee!" I said, happy to see the familiar dreadlocks and large smile.

"How was your summer?" George asked.

"Downright boring." Lee responded immediately.

"So was most of mine." I said. Before we could get any further in our conversation however, Alicia Spinnet opened the glass door and took a seat next to George.

"Hey everyone!" she said, tucking a stray piece of light brown hair behind her ear.

"Hi!" we all chorused back. I gave her an extra smile, which she returned. Although I knew that I would never be close with her the same way that I was with Fred and George, but it was nice to have another girl around. Sometimes when the boys decided to burp the alphabet, the Y chromosome was a little too much to handle.

"Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team Lee?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I love the game, but I don't think so. I prefer just flying around when I get on a broom. I'm thinking about commentating though, you know that the girl who commentated last year left."

"That would be cool." I said earnestly.

"Yeah, it's perfect for you." Alicia added in.

"Because you talk way too much." said Fred. Lee reached across to hit him, but good-naturedly. He knew he talked a lot.

Just then, a group of Slytherin boys who were in our year walked past. I recognized Warrington, Montague and Derek Xavier. They were talking in loud voices, boasting about their summer holidays spent in sunny places, meeting celebrities and buying expensive toys.

"Of course, now I have to get ready for Quidditch tryouts." continued Warrington.

"We won't have to try too hard though, I mean last year, Professor Snape all but guaranteed me a spot." drawled Montague loudly. They spotted us all glaring at them, as well as the broom shaped packages stored over our heads. They smirked as they sauntered past, but not before Warrington could get in a jab at the twins.

"And we have the best equipment too, we don't have to settle for anything less than the best. Unlike those Weasleys, who can only scrape together enough money to buy halfway decent brooms." he said, with one last smirk before walking off to catch up with his friends. I whipped around to look at Fred and George knowing that they would be angry.

However, anything that I had imagined in the split second before I saw their faces was way off. They looked furious. As one they stood up, wands out.

"No! You can't!" I said, standing up and pushing them back down into their seats.

"Why not?" growled Fred, as he tried to stand again.

"Because it isn't worth it!" I said, shoving him back down again.

"If I get to punch the prick, I'd call it worth it." said Fred.

"So would I." said George, standing with his twin again and trying to push past me. This time it worked. I fell back into my seat as they made their way to the door. Alicia, quick as lightning stood, blocking the door, halting their progress. They might feel comfortable enough shoving me around, but they would never push Alicia around. I couldn't see their faces, but I could picture their mutinous glares. Alicia, to her credit, didn't even flinch.

"You should listen to Aurelia." she told them, holding on to the door handle behind her back.

"Why?" asked George.

"Because she's right. It's Warrington. He's a stupid idiot, and besides, that was a lame attempt at an insult. It was horribly delivered, disregarding the fact that no one cares about a second year Slytherin's bad attempts at cleverness. It isn't worth it." Neither of them had anything to counter that. Both cast rueful glances back at me in my seat. I stuck my tongue out at them.

"I'm right." I said, careful to keep the tiny gloat from escalating their tempers more. Thankfully, however, it seemed to do the trick. They took their seats again, wiping most of the anger off their faces. George looked at me, still sitting a little haphazardly, an effect of being pushed down.

"Sorry." he said.

"Don't worry about it." I said, straightening up, and looking out the window at the green fields and the crisp blue sky. The rest of the train ride zipped past, filled with summer troublemaking stories, a few games of Exploding Snap, and more Quidditch statistics recited. Finally, we had our black robes on and the train reached a stop.

The excitement that I had managed to keep under control the whole day suddenly bubbled up inside me, and I was unable to control it.

"Come on!" I said, grabbing Fred and George and fighting my way out onto the platform. Once out in the night, I looked around, eager to see Hogwarts.

"You can't see the castle from here." Fred mocked gently as we were moved along by the crowd.

"I know." I said.

"Then why were you looking around for it?" he asked.

"I wasn't! I was—I was—I'm just excited to be back okay?" I said defensively.

"Okay. I was just teasing you know, I'm excited to be back too."

"Which way do we go?" asked George.

"I have no idea, I'm just following the crowd." I told him. We continued to walk in the direction that all the elder kids were walking, ignoring Hagrid's calls of "First years this way! First years 'oer here!"

"Isn't it exciting that we aren't first years anymore?" said George as we exited the station and walked along a dirt road guarded by large oaks.

"Yeah!" said Fred, "especially because now we know all the nooks and crannies of the place—you still got the map Aurs?" he asked, lowering his voice.

"'Course I have, you think that I trust Filch? No way he doesn't at least peek at some of the luggage." I said as the trees stopped and the road opened out into a much larger road, filled with carriages. People were climbing into the carriages, and when they were filled, the old carriage would begin to move, pulled by an invisible force.

"Wow. I love magic." I breathed. Fred and George both laughed.

"C'mon, let's grab one." Fred said, and thanks to our abilities to weasel through crowds, we were able to sit down in an empty carriage with relative ease. Lee and Alicia came out of the throng next, and spotting us, climbed up into the carriage.

"Okay," I said, ignoring the one empty seat left, "let's go."

"Hold on a second," said Fred, "hey Angelina!" he yelled to a familiar tall girl with a few glimmering beads woven into her dark hair.

"Hey!" she replied. I tried not to look stunned. I knew that Fred had always gotten along with Angelina better than I did (it wasn't like that was too hard) but he usually didn't make me stomach her.

"We've got an extra seat, come sit with us?" he asked her.

"Sure!" she called back, and the next minute found her sitting across from George. As soon as she was seated, the carriage began to glide effortlessly, following the carriage in front of it that was filled with sixth year Ravenclaw girls.

"How was your summer?" George asked her. I wished that there was someway I could ignore the response and look out at the scenery, but I was sandwiched in between Fred and George and had no where to look other than across from me at Lee, who actually interested in Angelina's answer.

I rolled my eyes at Alicia, who only gave me a sort-of pitying grin. She knew how much Angelina bothered me, because not only did she live in the same room as us, Angelina got on her nerves as well. Though not nearly as much as me.

The carriage trundled along at a reasonably steady pace, and soon we were in front of Hogwarts, the lights from the towers giving shape to the dark castle against the violet sky. I kept my eyes fixed on the horizon behind Lee, which allowed me to zone out of the conversation very effectively, and in no time the carriage was coming to a halt outside of the castle. I was the first one out of the carriage and I sped into the entrance hall without so much as a backwards glance. As much as I hated to admit it, it bothered me a lot that the twins were on speaking terms with Angelina Johnson. It wasn't that I begrudged them other friends besides me, because already they were much more popular around the school than I was.

"Hey! What was that about?" Fred and George caught up with me as I took a seat at the Gryffindor table.

"What was what about?" I asked, trying to be as clueless as possible.

"You all but ran out of that carriage." said George, taking his usual seat on my right.

"Oh—I was just excited to get in here. I mean, doesn't it look amazing?" I said, looking around at the Great Hall. The enchanted ceiling above us was as dark as the sky outside, with stars winking happily. The hall itself was filled with chatter, as students filed in and took seats at their respective tables. The hall emitted a golden aura, as if it was happy that students were once again filling it with loud laughter and teachers were sitting again at the long head table at the front of the hall.

"Yeah, I guess. I just wish that these would fill up." said Fred, looking somewhat mournfully at the empty plate in front of him.

"How can you think about food right now? Aren't you excited to see the sorting?" I asked.

"Not really. I don't know any of those kids. I mean, when Ron and Ginny come I'll care, but right now, all I want is food." he looked hopefully at his plate, as if he hoped that the plate could hear him and grant his wish.

"Keep on dreaming." said George, snaking his arm in front of me so he could hit his brother.

"Don't pretend like you aren't hungry either." said Fred.

"Of course I am, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna stare at my plate like an idiot."

"Guys, be quiet! It's starting!" I said, pointing to the golden doors that had just opened to reveal Professor McGonagall with the usual batch of first years. All of them had varying degrees of nerves on their faces as they surveyed us, the enchanted ceiling or just started straight ahead, focusing on not tripping over their own feet. It seemed to take them forever to walk the length of the hall to the aged Sorting Hat. When they were all gathered and the hall was silent, the Sorting Hat began it's song of the Four Houses. The first thing I noticed was that it was different that the one that it had sung last year. Even though I had been too nervous to pay careful attention, I would still remember the way that the hat sang of each house, managing to put a positive spin on all of them, even Slytherin.

"That's not the same song as last year!" hissed Lee Jordan from two seats down and across the table.

"Well, it sings a new one every year, doesn't it?" said a dreary voice from behind me. I spun around to see the misty form of Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor Ghost.

"How does it come up with them?" asked Alicia.

"How does it sort you?" Nick asked her immediately, with an irritated snap in his voice that said he had had this conversation times beyond counting.

"Well, I—I—I guess that—." stammered Alicia, caught off guard by the question.

"It is because it has a mind of it's own, a power given to it by the four founders of Hogwarts." said Nick, not bothering to keep annoyance out of his voice as the Hat sorted "Aster, Jacqueline" into Hufflepuff.

"How was she supposed to know that?" piped up George. Nick turned to him, annoyance turning into quickly mounting fury.

"If you listened at all to the background of the school, which the Sorting Hat provides, or even glanced in Hogwarts, A History—."

"Wait, people actually _read_ that?" asked Fred incredulously, over the applause from the Ravenclaw table as "Banner, Nathan" took a seat.

"Yes, they do," said Nick, and I thought I could see his cheeks turning slightly opaque as he continued to whisper-yell, "some of us enjoying learning, obviously not you from the looks of it, but some consider education the most valuable gift that life ever could—." Nick's rant was cut off as his head fell from his neck, remaining attached by only a sliver of skin. We all stifled laughter as Nick, his expression half surprise, half anger pulled his head back onto his neck with one swift motion and began applauding with the rest of us as "Bell, Katharine" joined our table, a look of tightly controlled rage on his face. With one last angry glance at us, he floated away to hover next to a group of seventh years.

Without Nick to annoy, the rest of the Sorting passed much more slowly, and even though I wasn't in danger of drooling onto my plate as I suspected Fred was, I was supremely glad when the Sorting Hat was carried away and Dumbledore rose, extended his arms in a gesture of welcome and said "Enjoy."

At once, the plates in front of us filled with every kind of delicious food you could ever imagine.

"Thank god." Fred said, grabbing at once for several chicken wings.

"What? Not enough chocolate frogs on the train?" asked Alicia, laughing as she placed a piece of roast beef on her plate in a much more polite fashion.

"Guess not." said Fred, now reaching for the roast potatoes.

"I must have not had enough either, I'm starving." I said, talking around the big spoonful of sweet potato that I had just put into my mouth.

"Ugh, you know Aurelia, you have terrible manners." for the first time I noticed Angelina, sitting on Lee's far side. I considered throwing food in her face, but quickly decided two things. One, that the food was too good to be wasted on her face, and that I was in too good a mood to start something at the moment.

"Blame it on these two." was all I said, motioning at Fred and George who both looked up from their plates, startled away from their food.

"At least we're doing something right." said George.

"We are proud to take full responsibility." said Fred, slapping George a high five over my head. Angelina laughed along with the rest of them, but something in her dark eyes told me that she had meant to embarrass me, not have Fred and George show off. As the entrees faded into spectacular desserts, I began to feel slightly stuffed and very tired. Fred and George were cracking their usual side splitting jokes, and sitting here, with good food and people who cared about me and vice versa, I felt more at home than I had in a long time.

Dumbledore, having finished his meal rose from his seat. Immediately silence fell and the food vanished from the plates. The twins moaned a little but I was having none of it "oh don't pretend like you've had nothing to eat, both have you have eaten enough to feed an entire army." I muttered at them.

"Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts. And if you are returning, welcome back! Whether this is your first year or your last, we have another wonderful year of learning in store for you all. A few quick start of term notes before I send you off to bed though. First, all first-year students should note that the Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden. Second, there is a list of forbidden items outside our caretaker, Mr. Filch's office that now contains some four hundred and thirteen items. I believe biting teacups, double duty Dungbombs and Exploding fireworks have been added. If you have any questions, please see the list or contact Mr. Filch himself. And finally, it is my happy pleasure to announce that we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, after the unfortunate accident in which Mr. Platts broke fifty bones in his body. Don't worry, he is well on the mend," said Dumbledore somewhat hurriedly as more than a few first-years looked around in alarm, "in the mean time I am happy to welcome Professor Hiddleston to the faculty." A weedy looking woman rose from her chair next to Professor Sprout. She had a nervous look on her thin face, and she nervouslytucked a stray piece of thin blonde hair behind her ear as the students applauded, reminding me of the gesture Alicia had done on the train.

Once she had sat back down with relief Dumbledore said "alright, off to bed! Goodnight!" and at once a mass exodus began. We had managed to depart the Great Hall and we walking up the same steps as last year when Scott intercepted us. Now in sixth year, his face had lost some of it's boyishness. He was with a tall blonde haired guy.

"Hey! Aurelia! Fred! George!" Scott said, catching up to us.

"Hey Scott!" we chorused back.

"You guys are trying out for the Quidditch team, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?" I asked as we continued walking.

"Madame Hooch sends the team a list of first years who are above average at flying. Plus, their brother is Charlie Weasley. How could they not be?"

"I guess that's right." I said, "I didn't no you played."

"Oh, I don't, but I am friends with Asher over here," he gestured to his friend, who smiled, "and he asked me to introduce him to you."

"Hey Asher." said Fred and George cheerfully as we reached the Fat Lady. He nodded a hello as Scott gave the password ("frozen lake") and we entered the warm common room. Asher turned so that we were in a small circle.

"I'm captain this year," he explained, "that's why I wanted to met the new talent. I just wanted to let you know that we're holding tryouts next Saturday, besides introducing myself. Let me know if you have any questions." His gray eyes crinkled as he smiled, bade us goodnight and walked up the stairs to the boys rooms.

"You know what that means." said George turning to us as soon as Asher had disappeared up the stone steps.

"No, what?" I asked, blind to whatever he was trying to say.

"We've been scouted!" said Fred happily.

"What does that mean?" I asked, still clueless.

"It means that we have a really good shot of getting on the team." as usual, George explained the concept I didn't get.

"I don't know about that. Maybe he was just talking to you guys. I mean, he did say he knew you cause of Charlie."

"He was talking to you too Aurelia! When are you going to get it in your head that you're actually good?"

"When I actually am. Goodnight guys, I'll see you in the morning." Without a backwards glance I headed up the girls staircase to my door which was now marked with a sign that said "second years." I had never been more excited to see pajamas in my life. All the other girls were already there, Penelope was pinning up a poster of her new favorite band and offered me a smile when I entered, while Angelina and Alicia were already in their four poster beds, red curtains drawn closed. Carefully, I slid the Marauder's Map into the nightstand drawer. Soon, I was in the same state as Angelina and Alicia, though I left one curtain open. I always did. I drew the covers around me, already close to sleep. As I lay there hunkered down in the covers, listening to Penelope get ready for bed and Alicia's steady breaths in the bed closest to mine, I breathed a sigh of relief at being back at Hogwarts. My last conscious thought before I fell asleep was that I was eternally grateful for hot water bottles.\

When you're nervous for something, time decides it doesn't like you anymore and speeds up. This was certainly the case for me, because next Saturday came way too fast and before I knew it I standing on the Quidditch pitch, broom clutched tightly in my hand, watching as Asher talked to his returning team mates. There weren't many. Besides Asher, who was a Chaser, there was Oliver Wood, a strong looking fourth year who played Keeper. I remembered watching him last year when I was in the stands. He was really good. The only other returning member was the Seeker, Jane Hart, a speedy looking seventh year with strong shoulders and a casual expression. They were both good enough that Asher wasn't bothering holding tryouts for their positions. That left open both Beater positions and two Chaser positions.

I looked around nervously at the other hopefuls. There were about ten in all, not a large turnout by anymeans, but enough people to make me more than slightly anxious.

"Are you nervous?" asked Angelina, coming up beside me on my right. Of course she was trying out, I thought resentfully. She was an amazing flyer and I knew in my heart that now there was only one Chaser spot left.

"Yeah, a little. Aren't you?" I asked her.

"Not at all. But you're right to be." She said, sweeping her hair into a long ponytail and walking away.

"Figures." I muttered under my breath, trying not to admit to myself that Angelina had succeeded at her goal. I was now extremely nervous, if not down right terrified.

"Alright guys," said Asher, finishing his conversation and addressing all of us, "since there aren't that many of you, we;re going to divide you up straight away. Now, if you're trying for Beater please come over here, you're up first." Asher had a calming voice, but I was still glad that I wasn't up first. I needed a minute. Fred, George and two other people walked up to Asher, while the rest of us took seats in the stands or on the ground. I sunk weakley into the grass, crossing my fingers for Fred and George.

Almost at once Asher had them up on the air, darting around like flies. To me it was obvious that Fred and George were the clear choices, the other boy was having trouble keeping his broom straight, and the girl kept missing the Bludgers. Fred and George, however, were like bullets, zooming around the field and batting the Bludgers back and forth with ease. Asher must have realized it too, because it wasn't very long after the individual excercises that he congratulated Fred and George. He called for a five minute break so that he could talk to the two rejects and the Chaser hopefuls could get ready. Fred and George came over to me, looking windswept and very pleased with themselves.

"Good job guys!" I said excitedly, trying to keep the nerves out of my voice.

"Thanks! Good luck Aurelia, I'll be back, but I gotta run to the bathroom." said George, giving me a quick hug before leaving the pitch.

"Good job!" I told Fred again, unable to say any thing else. Fred looked at me with concern.

"Are you alright Aurelia?" he asked.

"Yup! Never better! Why would you think something's wrong?" I asked, talking fast. Fred's frown only deepenend.

"Because you're bouncing up and down like an idiot, and I can read your mind." he said, drawing me over to a bench.

"No you can't." I said automatically.

"You're right," he admitted, "but I still know that you're freaking out."

"Only a little." I said.

"Right." he said, and I knew he didn't believe me at all. I continued bouncing on the balls of my feet for a moment while Fred watched, before he dropped his broom on the ground and faced me, putting his hands on my shoulders and forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Listen to me Aurelia. You are going to make this team. There is no way you couldn't. You're an awesome flyer and one of the best Chasers I've ever seen. Are you listening to me?" I nodded, unable to speak, transixed by his blue eyes. But I had heard every word he said.

"Aurelia, you are going to make this team. I know you will. I believe in you." he said. Before I could do anything but nod, Asher blew a whistle, calling all the Chasers out into the center of the field. Fred nodded at me, and I gave him a weak smile before joining Asher, along with the 5 other hopefuls.

Asher had us up in the air fast, on two lines of three, so that we were passing to one another as we raced up the field towards the goal posts. Angelina was on my line along with another fourth year boy, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, Angelina and I worked well together. I could see by the lines of her face that she was subtly trying to throw me passes that I would miss, or fake me out with a complex move, but I never missed a pass, and as time passed, she began to work more with me. Together we were leaving the fourth year in the dust.

After that Asher had Oliver get up in front of the goals. We would each get five shots, explained Asher, and we were trying to make as many as possible. The fourth year boy who was on our line only managed to sink one. I saw Angelina hid a smirk as she flew up in the air to begin her four for five trial. The girl in front of me only made three. Finally it was my turn.

I flew up into the air, a firm grip on the Quaffle and headed straight for Wood, he flew out to meet me, and at the last second I dropped my broom and flew under him, so that I had an easy shot on the center hoop. As I flew past him he managed a smile. "Nice move." he said. I managed to sink my next three shots as well, although Wood did give me a little trouble on the fourth one.

"One more Aurelia." Asher called. I nodded to show that I had heard. I zoomed straight for Wood again, and he flew out to meet me, a determined look on his face. I cocked my arm back, as if getting ready to throw at the center hoop. Wood continued coming at me though, he must know that I was faking. Desperate, I whipped the Quaffle at the left hoop a little later than I should have. I curved off and watched, breathless as Wood stretched his arms towards the Quaffle, fingers reaching...and missed. The ball flew through the hoop and I touched back down on the ground with a big sigh of relief. It was over. I didn't pay attention to the last person's tryout at all, I was too busy running over my tryout in my head and feeling an overwhelming sense of gratefulness, not only because I had done well, but because it was over. Asher didn't even need a minute to think. As soon as the last person had touched thr ground, he gathered us together.

"Thank you all for trying out, you all did a really nice job and it's obvious that you all care about the game. But now please congratulate Aurelia and Angelina on their excellent job, and on making the team!" I smiled so wide that I was worried my face would split. Angelina was grinning too, as the rest of the hopefuls gave us a few quick claps before walking dejectedley across the field.

"Good job guys." Jane and Oliver offered their congratulations before departing to the locker rooms to change out of their uniforms. I offered Angelina a thumbs up before turning around and sprinting towards Fred and George.

"I did it!" I said excitedley, as Fred lifted me up and swung me around as he always did.

"I told you so." he said.

"I know you did, thank you." I said seriously into his ear. I could feel him grin as he set me down so that George could sandwich me from behind.

"We did it! Guys, we're all on the team!" he said loudly from slightly above me.

"I know!" I said happily. And sandwiched in between the two of them, I was sure that this was moment, here, was going to be the best part of the whole year.


	8. Enchanted

_Next chapter! Thank you to all who reviewed or put my story on some kind of alert system! It means so much that you're reading! And with this chapter comes two things. One, I am officially part of the summer working world! Second, this is the first chapter where I use dialogue that the Queen Herself, Mrs. JK Rowling wrote. It's in the disclaimer, but just a note :) READ and REVIEW! Much love, Tarquin_

**Anything you recognize (including characters, dialogue, setting,base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**And you would say hey, it was enchanting to meet you**

**And all I know is that it was enchanting to meet you too."**

**-Taylor Swift, Enchanted**

And it had been. Not even sneaking into Honeydukes at midnight on my thirteenth birthday with Fred and George (and a little help from the Mauraders) had compared to the feeling of total happiness and joy that I had felt at that moment. We had had a good team, I reflected in my attic bedroom late at night on August 31, we hadn't made it to the Championship game (we lost out to Ravenclaw by ten points, a memory that still brought a severe headache) but the people on the team were some of the best that I had ever met. Asher had become something of an older brother to me during the season, he always made time whenever I needed to talk to him, and he had a charming smile that I knew made the older girls drool at his feet. But he, along with quick-witted Jane, was gone from Hogwarts. And although he had made me promise to keep in touch with him, I knew that it wouldn't quite be the same.

At least I would be back tomorrow, though. I had already gotten my stuff from Diagon Alley, and I was furious at the Jensons for not letting my go and stay with the Weasleys this year. I couldn't understand at all why they had refused to let me, and seeing as I didn't have the slightest idea how to get to the Burrow on broom, I had had no choice but to stomp up the stairs to my bedroom and seethe at my forced obedience alone. I had spent most of the summer in my bedroom writing to the twins and Asher. The tiny attic bedroom seemed to get smaller every summer. I knew that Kevin was around, but I had felt awkward about going over there ever since I had started going to Hogwarts. He had always been able to read me too easily, and I couldn't have him asking questions that I couldn't answer. It was with a small pang of sadness that I realized the last quality time I had spent with him was on my eleventh birthday.

I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. It read 11:39. I shook all thoughts of regret about not going to the Burrow and Kevin out of my mind. I needed to get to sleep. The Jensons were dropping me off at Kings Cross an hour early tomorrow, and I needed to get at least some sleep. I remembered how tired I was the first night last year, and I didn't think it would be any different this time, but I wasn't going to do myself any favors staying up until midnight. Sighing, I rolled over, grateful that this would be the last night I would be in this attic for a long time.

"Hurry up with your cereal Aurelia! I need you to make the eggs for the twins, you know that they'll be up soon. And don't you dare try anything funny with them." Arlene snapped at me, swiping my bowl of cereal away from me mid bite.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" I said indignantly as Arlene dumped the contents down the sink.

"Oh yes you are! If you want you can buy yourself more breakfast at the Kings Cross Cafe with your own money. Make the eggs! Scrambled." she ordered again, more sharply this time. I rolled my eyes as she pushed the egg carton into my hand. Arlene was scared of my powers, but she thought if she drove me hard enough, I wouldn't have time to retaliate. Hence the reason why I was up way before the twins, not because Arlene was worried I might be late.

"Let's go, let's go!" called Arlene from the table, where she was putting place settings down for Chloe and Tiffany. Resignedly, I cracked two eggs into the hot pan and at once they were sizzling. As much as I hated being ordered around by Arlene, I really did enjoy cooking.

"Done yet, freak?" the snarky question told me that Chloe and Tiffnay had entered the room, and sure enough, when I turned around they were sitting at the table with nasty sneers on their faces.

"Yes, if you want Salmonella." I told them.

"What is that? Some freaky wizard thing?" Chloe asked.

"No it's a disease that—." I started, surprised at the Chloe's new level of idiociy, when their panic drowned me out.

"Mom! Aurelia is threatening us!"

"Aurelia!" Arlene came striding back into the room, her makeup perfectly done, her blonde hair artfully styled. "What have I told you about threatening our family?"

"I wasn't threatening, I was—."

"No excuses, young lady. I told you that if you ever threatened my children with some freak show magic trick, I would kick you out of this house myself, as well as write to your freak school to get you expelled." She turned to the twins and began comforting them. They looked frightened, but I knew that most of it was an act. Unfortunately, the stupidity wasn't.

"Now, sweeties, can you tell me what the nasty child said?"

"All we did was ask if the eggs were done, and she said yes if we wanted to get Salmonella. It must be some weird freak spell. Mom, is she going to get expelled?"

"Of course she is, no one threatens my babies with salmon—." Arlene stopped. She looked back at me as I calmly dumped the now finished eggs into a bowl.

"Salmonella?" she said again.

"That's right." The twins and I all said together, before realizing that we had been in unison about something and glaring at each other. Arlene groaned, clearly upset.

"Babies, Salmonella is a disease you get when you eat raw food, it's not a freak thing. It's something that could happen to anyone." she explained, clearly upset that she wouldn't get to kick me out of her house.

"So she isn't going to get expelled?" Tiffany asked.

"Not today, at least." said Arlene, walking out to get her briefcase. There was a moment of silence before Max appeared. I had hardly seen him this summer, so I was surprised to see the beginnings of a beard on his cheeks.

"Are you and Arlene ready?" he asked me. I nodded, just as Tiffany spoke up.

"These eggs are horrible." she said. "Make more."

"Sorry, I have to leave now. Gotta catch the train to my freak show school." I said sweetly. "See you next summer!" And I walked out of the kitchen to the hallway where Arlene was tapping her foot impatiently.

"You're things are already in the car. Let's go." she said, and walked out the door without looking to make sure I was following, leaving me no choice but to hurry after her. As I slid into the backseat, I noticed a crisp, 5 pound note on the floor. Quickly, I snatched it up and placed it in my pocket. I enjoyed knowing that it was probably one of the twins, and although I had no use for muggle money, if nothing else, it would make a good Christmas present for Mr. Weasley. Once the car was moving I reflected a little about the way that the Jensons attitude had changed towards me. They had stopped walking on eggshells around me, once they found out that I was not allowed to use magic outside of school. This fact did not endear me to them however. I doubted whether that would ever happen. No, the only reason that Max was driving me at all was because Arlene had a meeting near the station and didn't like taking the train. She thought the Underground was dirty and cheap. Oh the irony.

This was the third time that I was entering Kings Cross to go to Hogwarts, and I had never before been more glad to get to the station. With the icy atmosphere in the tiny car, I knew that the feeling was mutual. I slammed the door shut in the Jensons's faces with a little more force than was actually necessary, but I had been holding in rage all summer. I needed to let off a little steam. It did make me feel a little better. As I strode into the station, I glanced at the large clock. It was 10:33. I had a little bit of time before I needed to be on Platform 9 ¾. As excited as I was to get out of the muggle world, I was still hungry. I decided that Mr. Weasley would like coins just as much as he would a bill, so I bought a blueberry muffin for myself guilt free. I didn't really want to sit down in the crowded cafe, so I munched on my muffin as I made my way to platform 9 ¾. I leaned against it casually, like I was watching the crowds as they swarmed around me, but in reality I was sliding through the barrier to the train which would take me home.

The platform was as wonderfully warm as usual, and though I was a good twenty minutes early, there were already a fair amount of people, shoving trunks onto the train and talking with parents or friends. I spotted Lee putting his trunk on the gleaming train.

"Lee!" I called, reaching him.

"Hey Aurelia!" he said, giving me a quick hug.

"Need help with that?" I asked, pointing at the trunk which was halfway onto the train.

"Nah I got it. Could you hold this though?" he asked, giving me a shoe box with a few tiny holes poked into it.

"Lee, what's in here?" I asked suspiciously. He wasn't as much trouble as the twins, but I still new better than to believe he was perfectly innocent.

"I'll tell you after you're done holding it, you might drop it, and that would be bad." he said, finishing getting his trunk on the train and starting with mine. He got mine on much quicker and I followed him as he rolled both trunks into an empty compartment, warily clutching the box. I handed him the box back once he had finished putting the trunks away.

"Thanks." we said at the same time. Me for dealing with my trunk, him for holding the mystery item.

"So what's in there?" I asked. He grinned mischievously.

"Well, it's kind of a tarantula."

"What's kind of a tarantula? I asked. Lee shook his head, his dreads bouncing slightly.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked.

"No." I replied automatically.

"Boy, am I glad I don't have to share a room with you." I said, as we left the compartment to step back onto the platform. Lee looks around, and spots a group of people he knows.

"See ya once the train starts to move, Aurs, I got people to show this beauty to." Lee said, and with that he disappeared into the crowd, which was thickening as fast as the steam now that it was almost ten to eleven. I kept my eye out for the Weasleys.

"Hey! Fred! George!" I said, spotting them at last. From the back, I could see that they had grown a few inches over the summer as well as managing to get their flaming hair trimmed back a little bit. I walked up so that I was level with them and was about to speak when I realized that they were already with someone.

"Oh!" I said, looking at the scrawny boy with jet black hair and glasses that covered brilliant green eyes. I turned to Fred and George, who I now noticed were staring at the boy as if he had three heads, making the boy's cheeks turn as red as their hair.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking from the twins to the blushing boy. Fred and George finally stopped staring long enough to glance at me and answer my question.

"This is Harry Potter." they said, with awe in their voices.

"Hi, I'm Aurelia." I said, sticking out my hand. Harry shook it happily, a tentative smile on his face.

"Don't you want to ask about his scar?" said George rudely.

"Why should I?" I asked, getting the sudden feeling that I was missing something as Fred and George exchanged aghast glances.

"Don't you know who this is?" asked Fred incredulously.

"No, sorry. Am I supposed to?" I asked, looking at Harry who's smile was only getting larger as the conversation continued. George rolled his eyes and Fred looked at me with his mouth slightly open, but before either of them could express their disbelief, Mrs. Weasley's voice rang out.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming Mum." they called, and with a last look at Harry they hopped off the train and went to find their mum, leaving me alone with my confusion and Harry Potter.

"Have you found a compartment?" I asked him. He shook his head no, the blush still spread across his cheeks.

"C'mon then." I said, grabbing his trunk and dragging it along behind me. Harry walked next to me, and held the glass compartment door open for me.

"Thanks." I said, storing his trunk on the wire racks. Harry sat down next to the window and stared out onto the platform. I took a seat across from him and watched as he looked out the window at the Weasley family, who were gathered just outside. There was something lonely in his eyes, I decided as I stared at him staring at the Weasleys. There was curiosity written in his face and I thought I could just see a hint of jealousy as he watched. And I couldn't say I blamed him, I often wished I had a family like the Weasleys.

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." I heard George say, his voice floating onto the train.

"Great idea though, thanks Mum." said Fred. Mrs. Weasley frowned at them, her hand placed protectively on Ron's shoulder.

"It is not funny. Look after Ron." I giggled sharply as the twins babied Ron, causing Ron's ears to go bright red. Harry suddenly turned and looked at me.

"How do you know them?" he asked me.

"I'm Fred and George's best friend." I explained. "What am I supposed to know about you?" Harry looked down embarrassed, but I caught a small smile.

"I don't know, I mean, I'm surprised you don't know—I feel like everyone else knows more about me. Every wizard I've met has mentioned it."

"Well I grew up with Muggle foster parents, so I'm afraid I'm not very in tune with what I'm supposed to know." Harry stared at me.

"You mean I'm not the only one?" he said, his eyes shining.

"The only one what?" I said, confused.

"The only wizard who grew up with Muggles!"

"Oh!" I said. "Well, I mean, they aren't my real parents, my parents are dead."  
>"Same!" said Harry excitedly. "My parents were killed by Voldemort, so I've been living with my aunt and uncle. They're horrible." At the mention of Voldemort, my brief lesson on his reign of terror came back. Professor Hiddleston had refused to say much, believing that talking about him would bring him back. She had made us swear to call him You-Know-Who, and since I have a bit of a problem with orders, I ignored her, deeming the order stupid and bringing about pointless fear. So I was surprised when Fred and George listened to her. Having heard stories about Voldemort, they had a little more knowledge than I had had and always called him You-Know-Who.<p>

"You're the boy who lived!" I said, my eyes quickly sweeping his forehead. And sure enough, there was the lightning bolt scar.

"Yeah." said Harry. "What a cool thing to be famous for, right?"

"You mean having a funny scar? That's nothing. I mean, for the past five minutes, you've been trying not to stare at my eyes." There was a short pause.

"Sorry." said Harry, blushing faintly again.

"Don't worry about it." I told him, waving it off with a laugh. "But you see my point. You're famous for defeating the greatest Dark Wizard of all time, meanwhile, I'm known at school as the girl with the freaky eyes."

"I don't think they're freaky. They're cool. And much more interesting than a stupid scar." I giggled at that partly because it was so blatantly untrue, and the whistle blew and the train began to chug out of the station. Harry looked back out of the window at Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. The boys must be somewhere on the train. I wondered if Harry had heard them talking about him. Something in his face told me he had. Suddenly the door of the compartment slid open and Ron, looking both shy and slightly awestruck, stuck his head around the door.

"Hey Aurelia. Is anyone sitting in here? Everywhere else is full." Harry shook his head and Ron sat down next to me. He looked nervously at Harry before quickly staring out the window at the countryside. It was hard not to laugh at the shy curiosity on both boys faces.

"Hey Ron." It was Fred and George who came in this time. I was surprised—they didn't exactly seem like the type of people who would sit with Ron, even if he was a first year. The next thing out of Fred's mouth proved me right.

"We're going down to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there." I shuddered. So that's what I had been holding. Ick.

"Right." muttered Ron, who looked embarrassed that the twins were coming to check up on him. I guess even if the twins had offered, he wouldn't have let them sit with him out of pure pride.

"Well see you later then." said George, finishing the introductions. "Coming, Aurelia?" he asked, giving the first sign that the twins had indeed noticed my presence.

"I suppose." I said, not eager to have another visit with the tarantula. I got up anyway and exited the compartment with them, not before saying goodbye to the boys. I hoped that they would become friends.

"Can you believe it? Harry Potter." said George in an awestruck sort of voice.

"What I can't believe is that you didn't know who he was." said Fred to me.

"I know now!" I said indignantly. "It just sort of slipped my mind. Professor Hiddleston only mentioned him once. And it was only chance that I was paying attention that class anyway."

"Not paying attention? You got loads better on the end of year exam than we did." scoffed George.

"No offense guys, but much better than you isn't much of an accomplishment."

"Hey! We'll have you know that our grades were stellar this year." said Fred.

"Whatever you say." I said, grinning.

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed in a fairly traditional manner for the first day of school. There were only two moments that stood out to me from the flurry of food and the typical onset of tiredness as soon as the feast was over. One was Harry's sorting. I had never heard the Hall as silent as it was during his Sorting. Everyone was waiting, waiting to see whose house he would belong to. When he got sorted into Gryffindor, we all exploded, standing up and clapping for the relieved looking eleven year old. Fred and George were shouting, and it seemed as if we had one upped the other Houses in some way.

The second moment was when Professor Dumbledore mentioned that the third floor corridor was strictly forbidden. Although there were a few whispers, it really only seemed a big deal to Fred, George and I. Never had there been a place in Hogwarts where we hadn't dared to go and explore. However the part about a 'painful death' had made me wary. What had Professor Dumbledore brought into the school now? And for what purpose?

I was still mulling over the possibilities at breakfast the next day as I ate my pancakes. The first breakfast back was always something of a treat, not being subjected to slightly stale cereal for the first time in 2 months. I turned to Fred and George to discuss the topic of the possibly painful death, but Alicia joined us first.

"What new classes have you guys signed up for?" she asked, sliding into a seat across from me and grabbing two pieces of toast.

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. You?" I replied, now taking a swig of water.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes." she said, now putting jam on her toast.

"We're both taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination." said George.

"Divination? Really?" I asked, trying not to sound skeptical.

"Yeah! Don't you want to be able to tell the future?" said Fred.

"Not really." I said cheerfully, handing them each a schedule from the pile that had just appeared in front of us.

"What do you have first?" I asked Fred, looking over his shoulder.

"Care of Magical Creatures, then ugh, Double Potions with the Slytherins." he said.

"Why do we always have to be with them?" complained George, folding up his schedule and putting it in his bag with a look of disgust on his face.

"We should appeal to Dumbledore or something." I said, staring at the same class on my own schedule, which was slated for right after a first period Arithmancy lesson.

"About the Slytherins?" asked Lee, taking a seat next to Alicia.

"Yeah." I said, finishing off my drink and sliding my schedule into my own bag.

"You know that's a good idea. And I have them for two periods in a row—Care of Magical Creatures AND Potions."

"WHAT?" said Fred aghast, taking a second look at his schedule in horror.

"You know, I feel a fever coming on." said George, groaning.

"Come on, you can't miss the first day of classes." I said bracingly.

"I hate it when you're right Aurelia." said George after another bite of sausage.

"I'm always right." I said smugly. Then I took a glance at the clock on the wall.

"Aw, crap we've got to go." I said. The others glanced at the clock too, and we all picked up our bags and walked into the Entrance Hall.

"Coming Alicia? Lee? See you in Potions, Aurs." said Fred, getting ready to depart for the outdoors.

"Have fun." I said, waving goodbye as I headed up the stairs to the second floor Arithmancy classroom.

Arithmancy turned out to be terribly hard and terribly interesting at the same time. Professor Vector was a tall and thin woman with ash blonde hair and an intelligent face. She laid down the law from the moment we stepped into the classroom, and set us an extremely difficult worksheet for homework. It already seemed like the teachers didn't care that it was the first day back.

Unfortunately, Professor Snape did not contradict this grim thought. I barely had time to say "hi" to my friends before Professor Snape opened the dungeon door and we entered.

"And so, we enter your third year at Hogwarts," began Snape as soon as everyone was sitting down, "and with it comes new classes. I am sure that some of you have just come from them. However despite the increase in course load, you will not find that the standards in this classroom will drop." he said, gazing around at us all. "In fact it would not do most of you harm to work harder than ever in this course, as you do not already match the expectations I hold up. Do not think that disciplinary action will not be taken if your work slips." he continued silkily, his eyes resting for a moment on Fred and George each. I glared back at him. I was good at Potions, to the chagrin of Professor Snape, but I still hated him. What gave him the right to show such hatred to students who hadn't done anything except escape the clutches of Slytherin House?

We spent the two hours we were forced to be in the dungeon brewing the Draught of Peace. IT was an extremely tricky potion to make, and Snape didn't help by sweeping up and down the Gryffindor side of the room and making snide comments about everyone's potions.

"Miss Johnson, do not attack the brew, this is not Miss Black's face."

"Pitiful Weasley, did you even glance at the directions."

"Miss Black..." Snape paused and glanced in my cauldron before flicking his dark eyes up to mine. I met his stare smugly.

"Well Miss Black, it seems despite your appearance of minimal intelligence you have managed a decent potion." I glared at him. "A chance of one in a million it seems..."

"It wasn't lucky!" said Fred, unable to keep his mouth shut. "She's actually good at Potions, but you don't want to admit it because you can't stand that she's better than all the people in your stupid House!"  
>"Fred." I moaned under my breath. There was a ringing silence in the dungeon.<p>

"Detention Weasley. This Saturday night," said Snape, a slight smile on his face. "You too Miss Black. And if you don't learn to reign your pet monkeys in, this will look generous. Class dismissed." Fred and I stomped out of the dungeon as fast as we could, George hot on our heels.

"At least he didn't take points off." said George as we made our way to lunch.

"At least!" I muttered. "I've got detention on the first day back, two hours worth of homework from Professor Vector, and we haven't even gotten to our afternoon lessons yet!"

"Ah well, at least it can't get any worse." said George, sitting down to his lunch of lamb chops and potatoes. I didn't respond and neither did Fred.

"Oh come on you two! It's only Snape!"

"I guess." said Fred, shoveling potato in his mouth.

"You know something George?" I said.

"What, Aurs?"

"This must be the first time you aren't in detention with us."

"I reckon you're right. Good thing too, I heard Snape say to Warrington that there are some frogs that need their livers removed."


	9. This Is Who I've Been

_A/N: Next Chapter! Trying to update more quickly now! I promise, I promise! Check out my new Hunger Games fanfic, The Fighter's Remains while you wait for the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who reads this, and an extra special thanks to reviewers and anyone who puts this story on a favorites or alert system! You're the best—any questions? Ask 'em! Who knows, I might slip in a snippet from somewhere down the road ;) Read and Review! Much love, Tarquin_

**Anything you recognize (including characters, dialogue, setting,base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**Oh my god this is who I've been**

**And I'm branded each day**

**Go on and lose it, go on and lose it all."**

**-Cartel, Lose It**

"How long have we been in here?" Fred whispered to me through gritted teeth.

"No idea." I whispered back, thinking that this was definitely not how I would choose to spend my Saturday night. Ever. With a disgusting squelching noise, I pull my tweezers out of the poor frog who is exposing his guts to me, literally. Between the individual prongs, about the size of a big marble is a green liver. Without looking too closely at it, I drop it into the jar between me and Fred, which is almost full. Using my tray, as to avoid touching the dead frog I dump it back into a huge bucket where other de-livered frogs are awaiting more mutilation by the hooked nose teacher behind the desk.

Snape had been reading the latest Daily Prophet for the whole time we've been here, pausing every so often to give Fred and I a malicious smirk, daring us to say anything. But I know better, and I hope I Fred does too. It was hot headedness that got us into de-livering frogs instead of hanging out with George.

When the jar of livers between us was filled to the brim, Snape walked over and picked it up, turning it around in his hands to make sure that there was no way to fit another liver inside.

"Very well Miss Black, Mr. Weasley," he said slowly, as if he wished to use much more colorful language, "you may go. But think carefully before you disrupt my class again."

Fred and I waited until we were well up the Entrance Hall steps to start rolling our eyes and laughing.

"I can't believe we're laughing this much after de-livering frogs. I'm going to have to wash my hands ten times when we get back to the common room." I said.

"Same here." said Fred, still chuckling as we rounded the corner.

"Ouch!" I yelled, colliding into a solid figure and falling to the stone ground.

"Are you all right Aurelia?" Fred asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, sitting up and looking at the boy who had run into. It was Ned Finch, a Ravenclaw in our year. He was in my Arithmancy class and I could already tell that I was going to be asking him for help a lot.

"Sorry." he said, getting to his feet and rubbing an angry red mark on his forehead beneath his dark brown bangs.

"I'm the one who should be saying sorry. Look at that mark!" I said, handing him the heavy books he had been carrying. He took them from me and arranged them to be as comfortable in his arms as was possible for three thousand pages to be.

"No, no you're fine. I was hurrying cause I wanted to get back to the common room before the riddle changed, but I was trying to read at the same time. Stupid really." he smiled, and I smiled back. He had one of those likable smiles that made you want to smile automatically. Fred had one too.

"All right, then. See you in Arithmancy." I said.

"See you." he replied, turning the corner and disappearing. Fred and I continued on in silence. I could feel him trying to find something to say though, and I knew that the silence wouldn't last long.

"His face is funny." said Fred abruptly. This was so far from what I had been expecting that I laughed.

"No it isn't!" I said. "And anyway, who cares?"

"No one, I guess." said Fred.

"What do you think he meant by 'before the riddle changed?'" I asked. Fred shrugged.

"I guess Ravenclaw has to answer a riddle to get into their common room, like we do a password."

"I'd never see the common room." I joked.

"Neither would I." said Fred. "It must be terrible."

"But I guess if you're a Ravenclaw, you like that kind of thing." I mused, feeling infinitely grateful that we only had to tell the Fat Lady "Caput Draconis" before entering the warmly lit common room.

The common room was mostly empty by that time, although George was sitting in front of the fire, a book in his hand that he slammed shut as soon as he saw us.

"How was it?"

"Absolutely revolting." I replied, throwing myself down next to him. "If I ever see another frog, it will be to soon."

"I'll be sure to request frogs for dinner to the house elves in the kitchens." George said.

"Is that a book I see? Shameful." Fred asked George, sitting down as well.

"It's Quidditch Through the Ages, it hardly counts." George defended himself. "Besides, I found it on that table over there. And I had to do something while I waited for you two."

"I think it's great your reading, George. I must admit this clears up some doubts." I said.

"Hey! You should know that I can read better than anyone. Isn't it your History of Magic notes I've been copying for the last two years?"

"Yeah about that. I've decided to stop trying to pay attention."

"WHAT?" Fred and George said in unison, both looking surprised.

"Yeah. I looked it up, and barely any career requires a History of Magic OWL. So I figured, what's the point? Besides, Binns is deadly boring." Fred and George gaped at me.

"Who looks that kind of thing up?" asked George openmouthed. Fred laughed but reached over to give me a high five.

"Look, I just don't see the point. And anyway, I don't care enough about school to care about History of Magic. I mean, I was just worried about making sure that I belonged here, but I'm not Hermione Granger." The twins both looked at me for a moment before Fred responded.

"Well, Aurelia, I for one am proud of you. We've finally succeeded in teaching you that you don't have to pass _everything_ with flying colors."

"I know." I said, picking up Quidditch Through the Ages and flipping through it idly. "Isn't it scary?"

"Sunshine," Fred said, "We've barely even started."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooo

However, not listening to Binns was easier said than done. I marched into the class determined not to hear or care about a word, but try as I might, his monotone voice still penetrated my skull all throughout my many games of tic tac toe with Alicia."

"So how did it go?" George asked me as we made our way down the marble staircase and into the Great Hall for dinner.

"Lousy." I groaned.

"What?" Fred said incredulously. "You were playing games with Alicia the whole time."

"I know! But I could still hear every single word the stupid ghost was saying. Did you know he has a lisp?" I shook my head at my own improbable failure.

"Oi! You lot!" We all turned in unison at the unmistakable sound of Oliver Wood's voice. And sure enough, there he was, racing toward us down the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

"Hey, Oliver. Good summer?" I asked pleasantly. As he hurried toward us, Fred and George sat down and began piling food onto their plates. Oliver waved away my pleasantries distractedly. He leaned forward.

"I need to talk to you lot." he said in a low and urgent voice, still panting slightly.

"So talk." said George thickly through a mouthful of pork chop. Oliver spared a brief glance at the

Great Hall, filled with loudly chatting students before turning back to us, apparently horrorstruck at the idea.

"In private." he said, his voice full of implication that I did not understand.

"What? Oliver, we just started eating!" complained George.

"We're starving." added Fred. Oliver looked unimpressed.

"You can finish later." he said heartlessly, and beckoned for us to follow him out of the hall.

Fred and George threw down their silverware angrily, but got up and followed Oliver just the same.

"Whatever this is, it had better be good." muttered Fred darkly. Oliver led us into a small unused classroom just off the Hall. I looked at it in surprise, I had no idea that it had even existed. Oliver drew a great, dramatic breath.

"Spit it out Oliver." said Fred, trying to avoid a long winded speech. Oliver looked slightly put out at Fred's words, but he still acquiesced Fred's request all the same.

"I've filled the open spots on the team." he said.

"Oh really?" I exclaimed excitedly, thinking of the brilliance of Asher and Jane. "Awesome."

"Why did you have to drag us away from our dinners?" George asked, his mind clearly still on the pork chops he had left behind. I elbowed him.

"Because," said Oliver before George could elbow back, "the new Seeker is Harry Potter." There was a short pause.

"Isn't he a first year?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Oliver nodded.

"Isn't it awesome?" he said, bouncing up and down on his heels.

"How did you get McGonagall to let him play?" asked the twins together, all thoughts of abandoned food forgotten. I smiled at the looks of awe and newfound respect for Oliver on their faces.

"That's just it. She was the one who suggested him. She interrupted my Defense Against the Dark Arts class to introduce us. Said he's caught a Rememberall from a fifty foot dive." George whistled appreciatively.

"I can't believe that McGonagall bent rules." I said.

"We must be rubbing off on her as well." laughed George.

"Who's the chaser?" I asked, remembering the other unfilled position and thinking that that I would put all of this in my next letter to Asher.

"Katie Bell. Second year. I must say, I'm glad we don't have to do full blown tryouts this year." said Oliver, practically hopping now. "All I had to do was go with McGonagall to speak to Professor Dumbledore about the situation and how it's top secret. So don't go blabbing." she said.

"Like we would." scoffed George.

"Yeah, we want to see the Slytherins looks of shock when Harry comes out at our first match!" said Fred, already chuckling at the thought. Oliver laughed at that too.

"Alright then. First practice is next week—I'll let you guys know when."

"Cool." I said, and started to exit with Fred and George.

"Oh! Aurelia! I almost forgot!" Oliver reached into his robes and pulled out a rolled up bit of parchment. "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to give this to you." He handed me the parchment. Fred and George looked over my shoulder as I opened it.

_Dear Aurelia, _

_If it isn't too much trouble, I would like to meet with you at six o' clock this evening in my office._

I looked up at the first sentence. "Why do you think he wants to meet with me?" I asked the twins.

"No idea." said Fred.

"If you want to be there at six though, you better get going. It's five till." said George, checking his watch.

"I can't believe you wear a watch. I said.

"Aurelia, focus. We can discuss my watch later." George said, staring at its face.

"Right." I said, tucking the letter into my robes. "I'll see you guys in the common room."

"See you." The called as I ran out of the room and up the marble staircase, my brain working furiously. Why did Professor Dumbledore want to see me? Our last major conversation had been when he took me to Diagon Alley more than two years ago. Why did he suddenly want to see me again? These questions took me all the way to the Gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office in no time. I stared up at it. It was hideous, with it's mouth bared in a grotesque smile, showing cracked spiked teeth.

"I'm here to see Dumbledore." I told it. It didn't move.

"Great." I muttered to myself. It was surely past six now. I drew out Dumbledore's note again, to see if it would have any instructions as to how to get past the gargoyle. I scanned the letter critically. And sure enough, there it was.

_ The password is Chocolate Frog. _What a great password.

"Chocolate Frog." I said. At once the gargoyle sprang to life, moving aside to reveal a spinning staircase that reminded my of the escalators in department stores. I stepped onto the staircase and stared up in awe as the staircase rose and leveled onto a platform. I stepped of the staircase and faced the wooden door inlaid into the wall. There was a golden eagle knocker on the door. I rapped twice, and the calm, familiar voice of Professor Dumbledore called "Enter."

I opened the door and stepped into the circular office, the walls lined with bookshelves (one of which the Sorting Hat was perched on) and the tables covered in golden objects that looked so intricate and fragile that I was sure if I breathed too heavily they would break. Dumbledore himself was seated behind a magnificent desk, most of which was taken up by a a large basin filled with silvery liquid. With a wave of his wand, the basin soared into a cabinet behind Dumbledore, which which shut with a pleasant _click_.

"Sit down, Aurelia." said Dumbledore kindly, gesturing at the chair just in front of his desk. I sat, wondering what in the world this chat could be about. Dumbledore did not look mad, in fact, a small smile was in place on his lips.

"Have you had a good start to your year?" he asked.

"Um, yes Professor." I said, startled by the question.

"Excited to start Quidditch training next week?"

"Very." I said. Where was this going?

"I'm sure you know by now, that Harry has been put on the team." he said. I nodded, beginning to see the direction that this conversation was headed in.

"I want you to look after him."

"Like a babysitter?" I said doubtfully. I like Harry, and had been looking forward to getting to spend more time with him on the Quidditch team, but I didn't want to just because Dumbledore told me to. As much as I hated to admit it, I was slightly irritated at Dumbledore. We hadn't had a major conversation in two years, and now he called me up to his office to tell me to watch over famous Harry Potter.

"No, like a friend." Dumbledore said simply.

"How do you know that I'm not already his friend" I asked him, my voice rising unintentionally.

"Aurelia." Dumbledore said in a quailing voice. "What's really going on here?"

"Nothing." I said with finality. The quality of the lie shocked me, but it seemed to pass with Dumbledore. Other than a pointed look, Dumbledore did not call me out on the lie, though I'm sure that he suspected that I was not being entirely truthful.

"You and Harry are very alike, Aurelia." Dumbledore said, and a dark shadow crossed his face, but it vanished quickly.

"How?" I asked, and I could feel my voice rising again, though I didn't trouble to try and lower it. "Because we're both orphans?"

"While it is true that you were both raised by Muggles because your parents were incapable of keeping you, it is not the only similarity between you two."

"Care to elaborate?" I asked. I didn't really understand why I was suddenly so angry, but I knew that I felt justified.

"You were both born to a higher purpose." Dumbledore's voice was still even, and he hadn't even so much as leaned forward in his high backed chair.

"That was your idea of elaborating?" I snorted.

"Aurelia, I do not have so share all of my knowledge with you." he said, and there was a slight warning in his voice.

"Even when it has to do with me?" I asked, and my voice broke a little. I hated that. Dumbledore now leaned forward in his chair.

"Aurelia, you must know that I do not enjoy keeping this information from you. I do it for your own good. And for your safety."

"My safety." I said, a question in my voice. Dumbledore leaned back again, and smiled slightly.

"Fine." I muttered, standing up. "I'll find out for myself."

"Good luck." said Dumbledore, and there was laughter in his voice. As nice a sound as it was, I didn't appeciate. As I reached the door, Professor Dumbledore called out to me..

"You'll do it though. Watch after Harry."

"I thought that went without saying." I said, opening the door. I didn't look back as I descended the staircase. I was upset, but I was most upset with the fact that I was madder at myself than Dumbledore.

I ran to the nearest open window, vaguely saw the owl flying around outside and leaned against the frame, my head in my hands, a tight ball of emotions rolling around in my stomach. Anger, disappointment, curiosity, and confusion all coursed through my body, and my fingers tightened around my scalp, unable to sort through it all. And then suddenly, just like that, it was gone. All of it was gone. Even my body. I ruffled my new feathers, unconcerned. I wasn't even scared. Changing had felt natural to me, slipping into a second skin the way some people change their clothes.

The answer to the question that I had asked myself on my eleventh birthday was yes. I could fly. The rush of air beneath my snowy wings was better than what I imagined being high would be like. I loved this feeling, and I vaguely wondered why I had been scared of this power. As a human I was so weighted down with all the heavy emotional baggage, but here, now, I was just another owl flying around the owlry tower. There was nothing that could possibly take me down now. I beat my wings with glee, and as they caught the air, I soared. I couldn't get over the weightlessness, and the beauty of flying. Pure simplicity. All wings, air and elation.

From the window in his study, Professor Dumbledore watched as the owls flew across the indigo sky. He watched in silence as one broke away from the rest, and flew lower towards an open window. He watched the owl fly lower and lower, circling towards the ledge. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, a small girl was perched lightly on the frame, her black ponytail whipping in the wind, and for one second, her golden eyes illuminated against the darkness. Then she leaped down and vanished from sight. He sighed, and turned from the window, wishing for all the world that he could escape the secrets he carried.


	10. It's Only In Your Head

_A/N: Here it is! The next chapter! Moving right along :)m Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads this, you're the best! Also thank you to those who review and put my story on some kind of alert or favorite list! You are amazing, and getting those emails actually brightens my day so much! As usual, feel free to PM me if you have some pressing questions that you need to ask me in private rather than in the review box :) Read, recommend, review and most of all, Enjoy! Much love, Tarquin_

**Anything you recognize (including characters, dialogue, setting,base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**Hey, don't write yourself off yet, **

**It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on**

**Just try your best, try everything you can**

**And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away."**

**-Jimmy Eat World, The Middle**

By the time the first Quidditch match of the season rolled around three weeks later, I considered it a personal achievement just to make it through the day without falling asleep at my desk. I didn't count History of Magic, as I had discovered that sleeping in that class was the only way to drown out Professor Binns. Even with my twice a week naps, I wasn't doing so well. Ever since my little chat with Dumbledore, I had been sneaking into the library after hours to try and find my family.

As soon as I was sure all my roommates were fast asleep, I would sneak to the window and shift into an owl. From there I would fly to any open window, the closest that I could get to the library. As soon as I hit the window ledge I would change seamlessly into a fly, and buzz along until I reached the library door, where I would slip underneath the gap between the floor and the door. Upon entering the library I would change back into a human and begin my research. It was tremendously slow going, and after three weeks I had almost nothing to show for it. Dumbledore had told me nothing about my parents, and the little I had learned about them two years ago was far from helpful, since I had no names or anything.

The only thing I had to go on was my own name: Aurelia Black. That was what I started with, looking through the old newspapers in the back to see if there was some kind of birth announcement that would give me my parents names and allow me to continue my search in a much more efficient way. However, there was nothing. I found the birth announcements of Fred and George, but there was nothing about me. I had briefly considered going back to ask Dumbledore, but my pride conquered my curiosity and so I remained empty handed.

On the morning of the match against Slytherin, I traipsed into the Great Hall with Fred and George, more alert than I had been in a long time. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I sat down at the Gryffindor table (which was cheering) and ignoring the Slytherin table (which was booing.) Unconcerned with their trash talk I grabbed a cinnamon raisin bagel and began to spread cream cheese on it. Fred and George each found their own breakfast, and we began to eat in a nervous silence. Despite the butterflies in my stomach, which I knew would only increase until take off, I managed to eat the whole bagel, and force down a goblet of water. I would need all the energy I could get.

"C'mon Harry, you have to eat something." I heard a girl say across the table. For the first time, I looked up to see Harry, Hermione and Ron sitting just along the table on the other side. Harry was not eating anything, and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"I'm not hungry." he said resolutely. I pitied him, remembering how I had kept myself up until one in the morning before my first game, positively sick with nerves.

"Harry." I said, trying to get his attention. He looked up, and I could see the attempt to control mounting panic in his green eyes.

"If you're going to try to get me to eat something, give it up." He said, and for a moment he looked like he considered smiling. I took that for a good sign. If he was able to even think about humor, that was a good sign.

"How about we start with a glass of water?" I asked, sliding under the table to come up and kneeling on the bench beside Harry. I grabbed the pitcher and set down the goblet in front of him. He stared at it mutely. I sighed loudly and moved his hand so that he was holding the goblet. Still he did nothing.

"Don't make me force it down your throat." I said.

"You wouldn't." said Harry.

"Try me." I replied.

"Seriously Harry, I'd just drink it." Fred said, leaning over his empty plate to speak.

"Yeah, you don't want to test Aurelia on these kinds of things." George said. Harry looked up at me.

"That's probably the wisest advice the twins will give you." I said to him.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." he said.

"Then why haven't you drunk any of it yet?" I said. Harry cast a glance back down at the water, and took one of the smallest sips I had ever seen in my life. I didn't press the matter though, deciding to move on.

"Great," I told him, plucking a piece of toast from the pile and putting it on his clean plate. "Now eat this."

"If I eat that, it will just come right back up." he said, looking at the toast like it was poisonous. I sat down on the bench next to him.

"No it won't." I said.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Because I can see the future." I said in a mystical voice. Harry rolled his eyes and pushed the plate away from him.

"You need your energy." I told him. "I know that eating it is going to be hard, but you have to do it. You'll feel better."

"How will throwing up make me feel better?"

"You aren't going to throw up. You're going to be great." I told him earnestly. He looked at me skeptically.

"How do you know?" he asked again, and I could see just how nervous he was.

"How many people do you think make the team without a tryout?" I asked him. "Harry, you're going to be amazing. I know it. A few butterflies are good, trust me. I have them right now too."

"You do?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." I admitted. Harry looked surprised.

"You do? But—but you're so good! Why should you be nervous?"

"She doesn't think she's good." George interrupted. I glared at him.

"Idiot." Fred added. I turned my glare on him, but he only shrugged. "You are for not believing it."

"Go away." I told them, turning my attention back to Harry. "Look, I may not think that I'm great, but I _know _that you are. We're going to wipe the pitch with those Slytherin prats." Harry smiled.

"Truly?" he said.

"Truly." I said firmly. "Now eat your toast." Harry turned back to the toast and looked at it with trepidation, before biting into it and swallowing hard.

"Keep eating." I told him. I sat there as he choked it down, and finished it off with another miniscule sip of water. Just then, Oliver appeared. He was already in his Quidditch robes, and looked very tense, his mouth forming a hard line.

"Locker rooms." he said, pointing out of the Great Hall. "Let's go." Both Ron and Hermione wished Harry luck as he stood. He was paling fast. I decided to leave him no time to think.

"C'mon." I said, grabbing him by the arm and walking him out of the Great Hall, Fred and George following, having a low conversation about a prank that they were planning to pull on Slytherin.

"You couldn't have tried it before the match?" I asked over my shoulder, still pulling Harry along. Fred and George looked affronted.

"And sink as low as those Slytherin gits who tried to get Angelina? I don't think so." George said.

"Although we did think about it." Fred said gleefully, with no shame in his voice. The rest of the walk down to the lockers was silent, as was the locker room as we changed into our robes. I pulled on my robes and flipped my hair out of the collar. I had the elastic around my wrist, for once letting my thick hair fall free, an inch past my shoulders.

"Aurelia." I spun, to see Angelina, looking slightly hopeful and slightly nervous.

"Yeah?" I asked her. Though we both knew that we would never be exactly friends, we had reached an uneasy peace, helped by the many hours spent on the Quidditch pitch together, passing the Quaffle back and forth, learning from each other.

"Are you going to leave your hair down?"

"No. Why?" I asked. I had no idea where she was going with this.

"I was wondering if I could, um, could I braid your hair?" she asked, spilling the words out quickly. I stared at her for a moment, stunned.

"Uh, sure." I said, offering her the elastic and turning around. I saw her smile slightly before stepping closer and beginning her work.

"You have such pretty hair." she sighed as she twisted it professionally around her fingers. I was stunned, but managed to utter my thanks. Could this day be any weirder? Katie Bell, the new Chaser drifted over to see what was going on. I had never met Katie before our first practice, but I already liked her a lot. She had a sense of humor that matched my own, and a certain bluntness that I envied. She was about my height, and had her brown-gold hair up in a ponytail.

"I wish I knew how to braid." she commented, sitting down on the bench.

"I can braid your hair of you want," I offered. " I can braid other people's hair, just not my own."

"Okay." she said, more excitedly than I had, and yanked the elastic out of her hair. Angelina finished as Katie shook out her hair.

"Thanks. I like it." I said, smiling at her and swinging my head to test the braid. It was tight, and not a strand fell out of place.

"Anytime." she said, and watched as I did Katie's hair, trying to weave Katie's hair as tightly as she had done mine

"That looks nice." Angelina said once I had finished. "I know a spell that will keep it in place during the—"

"Excuse me." said Oliver, emerging from the Captain's office with a scandalized look on his face. "What is going on?" He glared accusingly at me, Angelina and Katie.

"We seem to be vamping on a sleep over theme." said Fred, who looked very bored. I realized that all the guys must have been paying attention to our little pow wow.

"Yeah, next we were going to have a pillow fight and stay up until midnight to talk about our feelings." said George sarcastically.

"When you lot have finished fooling around we can get serious." Oliver said loudly, cutting off any retort I could have sent at the twins.

"Hey! It was my turn next!" Fred exclaimed. Oliver looked daggers at him.

"Are you done?" he asked.

"Just start talking Oliver, that way we can actually play the game before dinner." George said. Oliver looked angry, but he followed George's advice and began his long winded speech. I zoned out. It was nothing I hadn't heard before. Asher had let Oliver give "motivational" speeches before matches last year. It was possibly the only thing Asher had ever done to irritate me. Oliver meant well, but still.

Finally he finished up, and we marched out onto the pitch. I glanced back at Harry behind me. I hoped he could walk of his own accord. He looked pale, but determined. I smiled to myself, and faced front as Oliver and Marcus Flint shook hands under the watchful eye of Madame Hooch, her spiky gray hair matching her iron stare as she warned us to keep the game clean. Yeah right, I thought. As long as the Slytherins were involved, there were bound to be some dirty plays.

"Mount your brooms." she said, and we all did as we were told. I could feel my heart pounding loudly, and I watched Madame Hooch intently, ready to kick off the ground as soon as she blew her whistle. She blew the whistle long and hard, throwing the Quaffle up in the air as she did so. At once we all soared up in the air, six Chasers trying to get their hands on the Quaffle. I knew that down below Madame Hooch would be releasing the Bludgers and taking off into the air to join us. Angleina snagged the Quaffle and at once Lee began his commentary.

I flew slightly ahead of Angelina, the wind rushing loudly in my ears. All the nerves had gone, replaced by pure, focused adrenaline. Angelina threw me the Quaffle and sped ahead of me, trying to overtake Marcus Flint, who was hot on her tail.

"Aurelia watch out!" called Katie as she zoomed past, dodging a Bludger. I looked back over my shoulder to see Montague level with my knees, his face cracked in a malicious grin. I knew he was planning something, and I didn't want to keep the Quaffle and find out what it was. Quickly, I untucked the Quaffle and threw it toward Angelina again, but before she could get her hands on it Marcus Flint soared up again and puched it out of her arms. He zoomed back towards Oliver, the Slytherin Chasers on his heels to begin putting their tatics into play. I swore loudly.

"Hey!" Katie called as we tried to catch up with the Slytherins, "Hawkshead play?"

"Yeah." Angelina said as she weaved her way around Warrington to block him. Flint cocked his arm back and threw the Quaffle hard at the left hoop, but Oliver was there, and he saved it with enough ease to gove him the confidence to smirk at Flint.

Oliver passed the Quaffle to Katie, and at once we were off again, this time Angelina slightly in front of Katie and I, as we set up for our play. However, before we could execute it, one of the Slytherin beaters hit Katie in the back of the head with a Bludger. She managed not to crash face first into the broom handle, but the Quaffle was taken by Pucey. As I marked him, I thought that Pucey was an excellent name for him. All his features seemed to be various shades of disgusting puce. I heard a whoosh and looked up. Fred had hit a Bludger toward Pucey. It collided with a loud _thunk_, and I dived under Pucey to catch the dropped Quaffle.

Without a second glance I sped back up the field toward Bletchley. It was just us, a one on one. Behind me, I knew that everyone was trying to catch up to me, but they'd never get here in time. I threw the Quaffle hard at the right hoop. Bletchley dived, missed, and the Quaffle soared straight throw the hoop.

"GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" Lee yelled into the magical microphone, and the Gryffindor end of the pitch roared with cheers.

And so it went, back and forth up the pitch. Playing Chaser was basically like playing a high speed game of chicken, for it required more than a little bit of reckless daring to weave through people the way I did, or nearly throw yourself off the broom in order to stretch the extra inch required to capture the Quaffle safely in your arms.

The dance was only interrupted by Madame Hooch's loud whistle. I halted in mid-air, looking around for the source of the foul. My stomach lurched as I saw Harry, his broom spinning out of control, Harry fighting to stay in the air. As I watched, Harry regained his balance and was able to control his broom. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. Up in the stands, Lee was going crazy.

"So, after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating—." Lee managed to get out before Professor McGonagall cut him off, loudly dissuading Lee's half formed curses.

"Penalty to Gryffindor!" Madame Hooch bellowed. With a insolent smirk on my face, I grabbed the Quaffle from Montague and soared up to face Bletchley. I scored easily, and just like that the game was back on. Katie, Angelina and I worked as a seamless trio. I hadn't really understood Katie's talent until this game. Like Harry, Oliver had picked her without having full blown tryouts, instead choosing to hand pick only a few of what he considered the elite possibilities and having them fly with Angelina and I. I had been half asleep on my broom at that time and for most of the practices since, and couldn't remember much of anything, except my eternal gratefulness that I had good enough hearing to hear the Quaffle woosh as it came towards me.

We continued for maybe five minutes more before Harry distinguished himself again.

"Aurelia! Look up!" Fred yelled as he hit an oncoming Bludger away from me before hurtling higher again. I glanced up to where Fred was speeding and almost flew straight into Angelina. Harry was high above me, holding onto his Nimbus for dear life. It hurled and shuddered and tossed itself around, trying to throw Harry off. He was clinging low to the handle as it performed a series of gymnastics. Without thinking twice, I sped after Fred. As I raced toward Harry, the only thought in m head was to protect Harry. Together with George, we tried to pull Harry onto one of our brooms, but every time we got too close, Harry's Nimbus cartwheeled, and Harry would yell, clutching at the broom.

"Hang on Harry!" I told him as Fred and George dived and began circling ten feet below, ready to catch Harry when he inevitably fell.

"Make it stop!" he managed to yell back. I didn't answer, because I didn't know what to do. I wished for all the world that I could do what he asked. But I was powerless.

And all at once, it stopped. The broom came to a sudden stand still, and Harry, now hanging off the broom, was able to climb back on. To my utter astonishment, as soon as he had righted himself, he sped off towards the ground in a spectacular dive.

"Harry! What are you doing?!" I called after him, watching in amazement and then horror as he hit the ground hard, falling to his hands and knees, coughing up a storm. And then he put his hand to his mouth and spat out the Snitch. He held it high in the air, calling up to us all watching him.

"I've got it! I've got the Snitch!" The crowd was twittering in confusion, but I let out a great shout of laughter, and dove towards Harry, still on the ground. As my broom neared the earth I rolled off it and onto Harry, capturing him in a huge hug. He hugged me back, and laughed. Where his hand was on my back, I could feel the Snitch beating hopelessly against his fist.

"I told you that you would be great." I whispered in his ear as Oliver hit us next, and engulfed Harry in a bone crushing hug of his own. I could hear Flint yelling loudly at Madame Hooch, complaining about Harry's capture of the Snitch, but nothing he said made any difference, and Gryffindor kept the decisive win.

However, the days memorable events were far from over. I was walking past Gregory the Smarmy to meet up with Fred and George to execute the newly formed prank, when I heard the unmistakable sounds of a Weasley Prank. At once I turned and walked the other way, thinking that I had better find a place to hide from Flich. However I had no sooner gotten past the tapestry of the dancing trolls that Mrs. Norris appeared. She fixed me with an accusatory stare.

"I haven't done anything!" I told her, and determined not to lose a glaring contest to a cat, I spun on my heel back the way I had originally been going, thinking that now I needed a place to escape Mrs. Norris, who ran past me, undoubtedly about to go and tell Filch that I had been the one to exact whatever mayhem Fred and George were responsible for. Again for a third time, I was interrupted on my innocent walk by none other than the troublemakers themselves, who whooped when they saw me.

"Aurelia! C'mon, Flich is hot on our tail, move move!" George called. Each twin caught me under the elbow and dragged me along behind, still facing the opposite direction.

"There's no where to hide!" Fred said. And it was true, there were no Marauder hidey holes around here.

"We'll never make it to the common room!" George said loudly, over the screeching sound of my converse against the stone. (I was still being dragged backwards)

"Guys look!" I yelled, staring at a plain wooden door that had just appeared in the wall. "Let's try that!" Fred and George turned to see the door, and immediately released my elbows, running at top speed to try the door. George wrenched it open.

"In, in!" he whisper yelled, as the scuffs of shuffled footsteps told us that Filch was just around the corner. I followed Fred into a small broom cupboard, and George darted in and closed the door, throwing us into darkness. None of us spoke as we heard Filch pass the door. I held my breath, like it would do any good. But I was determined not to get caught and punished for a prank that I hadn't even gotten to have any fun committing.

I got my wish, as Filch scuffled past, wheezing under his breath but taking no notice of the new broom cupboard. We heard him round the corner, and George counted to a quiet sixty before opening the door. We spilled out into the hallway, and the twins began to laugh.

"You couldn't have waited two more minutes for me?" I asked indignantly.

"Sorry." Fred said, somewhat sincerely.

"Montague and Warrington passed, and we couldn't resist throwing the dungbombs, and a few other choice items, at them." explained George.

"I see." I said. I was slightly disappointed I hadn't gotten to take part, but if Warrington and Montague were getting gdungbombed, I couldn't really complain.

"Lucky that broom cupboard was there though, or we were in for it." said Fred.

"Speaking of the cupboard, it wasn't there before, it just appeared out of nowhere when you guys dragged me past." I said, turning to look at the door again.

But it wasn't there. The door had simply vanished, leaving the same stretch of wall that had been there the first two times I had walked past this evening.

"That's so weird." said George, running his hand along the smooth stone, as if looking for a secret latch. Fred and I exchanged looks. A secret broom cupboard had not been on the Marauders Map.

"I'm starting to think we may need to write our own map." I said to the twins, who looked back at me and cracked the identical mischievous grins that I had become so accustom to these past years, and that never failed to make me grin back.


	11. Time to Finish What You Began

_A/N: Sorry for the wait, and also the length, but I have been very busy and I wanted to get this up before school starts in earnest. To the reviewer who pointed out that wizards can shapeshift using Transfiguration, yes that's true, but Aurelia can do it without the use of a wand, which id required for Transfiguration. Shape shifting is a part of who she is, her restrictions are not as limited as regular wizards. Although in this chapter, you'll see her hit a limit purely because of her inexperience. I hope to get the next chapter out soon, thank you to all who review or put my story on an alert system! Read and Review! Much love, Tarquin_

**Anything you recognize (including characters, dialogue, setting,base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**Pull yourself back up again**

**Don't you be no graveyard man**

**Time to finish what you began**

**Boot and rally, boot and rally"**

**-Iggy Pop, Let's Boot and Rally**

"Aurelia!" I looked back over my shoulder as I hurried to drop my bags off in the Gryffindor common room before dinner. Harry was exiting a classroom on my left and he hurried to catch up with me, promising Ron and Hermione that he would see them at dinner. The late May sun streamed in through the windows as I waited for Harry.

"What's up?" I asked him as we turned onto Gregory the Smarmy's corridor and I looked for the millionth time at the blank stretch of wall where the broom cupboard had appeared. After that night we had never been able to find it again, and not for lack of trying. For the first time the Marauder's Map had failed us, for the cupboard wasn't even marked there. Fred and George had almost cried when they found that out. The room seemed to have simply disappeared, but every time I passed, I got the feeling that it was still there, waiting for the next person to figure out how to access it.

Harry looked uncomfortably at his feet for a second before answering. "What's under Professor Quirrel's turban?"

"No idea." I said promptly. "Probably a bunch of ugly bruises though, you saw Fred and George whipping snowballs at the back of his head over Christmas." I smiled, remembering the two galleons I had picked up for winning the bet that I couldn't hit the turban from twenty feet away. Harry looked disappointed.

"Something else bothering you?" I asked, as we entered the common room and dropped our bags.

"Um, well, it's Professor Snape."

"Ugh, you don't need to tell me. He gave me two detentions in a week last month." I said bitterly. I had spent from dawn to dusk in Professor Snape's office pickling rat's brains, disemboweling toads and draining salamander blood.

"No, it's more serious than that."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, well, do you think he's truly evil?" I stopped walking as I considered the question. True he was horrible, but it didn't feel right to call him evil.

"I don't think so." I said slowly. "Why?" Harry blanched. It became obvious that there was something he didn't want to tell me.

"Nevermind." I said, shaking it off. "Let's go to dinner. I have a mountain of homework that I need to do." I was more upset than I let on that Harry was holding something back from me. But as we entered the Great Hall, Harry's panicked expression reappeared.

"Where's Professor Dumbledore?"

"He's still at the Ministry." I told him. I knew this because I had been asked to meet with the man tomorrow. It would be the first conversation we had had since September, and although I had cooled off a little bit, I still felt that I deserved answers. Harry looked even more upset at the news.

"Are you sure that you're alright Harry?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I am. I'll see you later okay? I said I'd eat with Ron and Hermione."

"Sure." I said, still concerned. I swung onto the bench across from Fred and George.

"You okay?" Fred asked. "You've got that crease in between your eyebrows."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, distracted enough to stop my worrying for a second. Fred, to my great surprise, blushed slightly.

"When you're worried you get this crease in between your eyebrows." he told his plate of roast chicken.

"Oh." I said, surprised that he had noticed. "Well, I'm fine." It took another ten minutes for Fred to be able to meet my eyes again as I chattered easily with George. When we returned to the common room I kept one eye on Harry while I struggled through my Arithmancy homework. Fred and George sat at the same small table as me, but they were far less focused.

"What's that?" George asked me, leaning over to take a look at the essay I was writing.

"Possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I exaggerate only slightly." I said, turning the pages of my Arithmancy book to look up a figure.

"Why'd you take Arithmancy anyway?" he laughed. He put aside the drawing of a faerie he had been doing for Care of Magical Creatures. It was very good, I thought as I looked at it. The faerie had long flowy hair and gossamar wings that looked as if a gust of wind would tear them.

"Because she is an overachiever. Also a genius." Fred said from behind the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. A closer look showed that he wasn't actually taking notes, but doodling idly.

"I'm hardly a genuis." I waved him off with an eye roll. "Even with these extra notes that Ned lent me—."

"When were you talking to Ned Finch?" Fred abandoned his pretense of doing homework at once.

"He's in my Arithmancy class." I said, now searching for the second page of notes I was borrowing. "And he's the real genuis, I swear I would be failing the class if he wasn't helping me."

"How often does he help you?" Fred asked.

"Whenever I ask." I said, looking up. Fred was staring directly at me, his quill lying idly on the desk. His blue eyes were sharp with a protective curiosity. In spite of myself, I smiled. I had never had anyone look at me with such a sense of protectiveness. It filled me with a warmth that made me inexplicably happy.

However that effect wore off as the clock continued ticking. Fred and George said goodnight at eleven, warning me not to stay up to much later. I nodded sleepily. The words floated off the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3. The swam in front of my eyes, dancing gleefully as my face got closer and closer to the page...

_The ballroom was filled with gleeful chattering, and the music was enough to make even the lousiest dancer want to tap their feet. I spun around, taking in the room around me. It was a wide room, with stone floors and a domed ceiling, flecked with precious jewels that winked down onto the partygoers. With a start I realized that the stones were what was lighting the room. A multitude of colors shone down, green from the sapphires, red from the rubies, even the occasional flash of purple from an amethyst. _

_ "You look nice." said a voice from behind me. I spun around. It was a tall couple, a man and a woman. They were both pale, with caramel colored hair that shone in the gem-light._

_ "What do you mean?" I asked, confused. _

_ "Well, look at yourself." The man spoke, his eyes twinkling. They were a nice shade of blue that reminded me for some reason of Fred's eyes. Maybe it was the mischievous twinkle in them. I looked down, breaking off from his gaze. I gasped. I was wearing a knee-length purple dress that must have been the perfect color to bring out my eyes. It was made of a floaty fabric that seemed to ghost around my body, never exactly settling. The duo's chuckle made me look up, and then around at the wild party that was going on around me. _

_ "What's all this for." I asked gesturing lamely at my surroundings. I felt horribly out of place, though there was something about the pounding of the music and the winking jewels that made me want to be a part of it._

_ "What do you mean?" the woman look confused. "Don't you know this is all for you?" _

_ "Me?" I said. "Why?" _

_ "Because—."_

"Petrificus Totalus!" The high pitched cry woke me from my deep sleep. I flew from my chair (where I had fallen asleep) and scanned the room for the source of the noise. I found it in the center of the common roomwhere a trio of first years I recognized at once stood over the now frozen body of Neville Longbottom.

"What the hell are you doing?" I said, aghast. As one they spun around to face me. Hermione pointed her wand at my chest.

"Try it Hermione." I said.

"Put it down, Hermione." Harry told her. She lowered her wand, her expression apprehensive.

"Right." I said, much more comfortable now that there wasn't a wand pointing at my heart. "You three are going to tell me what's going on. And don't tell me there isn't anything—I know that there is." Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances. Finally, Harry spoke.

"You know the Sorcerer's Stone?"

"You mean the one that makes the Elixir of Life?" I asked, not yet sure how this was relevant.

"Yeah, that one." Harry said, and launched into an explanation of how the fishy events of the year made them believe that Professor Snape was going to steal the stone.

"Is that why you asked me about Professor Snape tonight?" I asked, once he had finished. Harry nodded.

"Well, okay then." I said. "What can I do?"

"The cloak only fits the three of us." said Ron, speaking for the first time. His face was set stubbornly, like he expected me to tell them that they couldn't try and stop Snape. On the contrary, I thought that they were the only ones who could. Besides Professor Dumbledore.

"You know what you could do? You could write to Professor Dumbledore. He needs to know what's going on." Hermione said, like she had read my mind.

"Right." I replied, striding toward the portrait hole. "After you." Harry swung the cloak around them, and they vanished from view. However, a squeeze of my hand told me when they passed.

"Good luck." I whispered, knowing that they would need every ounce of it they could get. Briefly, I wondered why I was doing this. But I already knew the answer. Harry needed me. Whether he knew it yet or not. I wasn't doing this just because of the promise I had made to Dumbledore, but because Harry needed me. And in a funny way, I needed him.

I counted to twenty before climbing out after them. I strode along until I was out of view of the Fat Lady. Send an owl my foot. I was going to go myself. I knew where the Ministry was, I could fly there. I opened a window in a alcove off the hallway. Carefully, I climbed up on the sill. Not wanting to waste time, I jumped. Before I could fall two feet though, I was beating my wings as hard as I could, speeding toward London.

The cold air rushed into my feathery face, and for the millionth time in the last hour I wished that I could fly faster. I didn't dare see if I could turn into a faster animal though, a tawny owl was the most discreet. And I didn't need to be delayed. Harry and his friends could be in serious danger. Who was I kidding, if they were going after Snape, they were in serious danger. I flapped my wings as hard as I could, and I knew that I was going to pay for this later.

Finally, finally, just when my wings were about to break from exhaustion, I soared into London. I flew rapidly towards the Ministry, fighting all of my exhaustion. I dove down the tunnel that the few owls the Ministry employed used. Instantaneously, I changed into a fly so that I could fly through the vent without obstruction. I flew out into a grand room, made all of black marble. A sign labeled it the Atrium, and the great golden fountain in the middle of the room gurgled happily as the magical brethen stood guard over the hall. I got the feeling that in the day time this place was crowded with ministry officials, but now, at one in the morning, the sole figure in the space was—

"Professor Dumbledore!" I called, my voice rasping against my throat as I fell back into my human body and was at once overwhelmed with exhaustion and pain that I had never experienced before. Dumbledore turned and hastened over to me at once.

"Aurelia! What are you doing here?" I was in such misery that I didn't even realize that he skipped the _how_ part of the question.

"Harry—friends—danger—Sorcerer's Stone—thief—gone-gone after it—trying to stop—stop Snape." I gasped, unable to get out anymore. Luckily for me, Professor Dumbledore understood at once. Come this way Aurelia, he said, turning to lead me down a wide corridor filled with wide and empty fireplace grates. I took once step, then staggered, unable to hold my weight.

"Professor!" I cried. He turned to see me attempt to take another step. I fell out right this time, and as I fell to the floor I was unable to throw out my hands in time. I felt my forehead hit the floor with a loud _SMACK_ that sent another wave of pain into my already overloaded mind. Unable to keep the pain at bay any longer, I blacked out.


	12. The Right Way

_A/N: We're just going to pretend that this story was updated in a timely fashion. Please make no mention of the fact that it's been months. Just don't say it. I'm embarrassed enough for all of us. Thank you to all who reviewed/favorited/put this story on some kind of alert system. It really means a lot, and gives me more motivation to keep writing. Please continue! Enjoy! Xoxo, Tarquin _

**Anything you recognize (I.e setting, characters, dialogue and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**You've got me popping champagne, I'm at it again**

**caught up in the moment but not in the right way**

**I'm falling in between, tearing up at the seams"**

**-All Time Low, Popping Champagne**

Blinding lights seared through my skull as I floated out of my sleep and the he domed ceiling of the hospital wing loomed into focus. At once reality came back to me. I remembered the Ministry of Magic, warning Professor Dumbledore and pain. Pain that had subsided into a dull ache running rampant through my bones. But Snape! Where was he? What happened? Where was Harry? Sudden panic temporarily washing away the pain I sat bolt upright in bed, looking around wildly.

"Woah Aurelia! Calm down!" I looked over to my right, where the twins were slumped in two uncomfortable looking chairs.

"What's going on? What happened?" I demanded.

"Nice to see you too." said George, scooting his chair closer to my bed.

"Yeah, it was nice to get a proper hello, considering that we've been sitting in those chairs for the better part of three days." Fred added dryly.

"I've been out three days?" I asked, shocked. The twins nodded.

"You didn't look good at all when we got here. You were so pale we thought that you'd been drained by a vampire." I rolled my eyes at this lame joke.

"What? We're serious! We were really worried!" George said reproachfully.

"I guess if our concern is met with such disdain, next time you end up in the hospital wing we won't even bother to come see you." said Fred. There was a pause.

"Thank you. For coming." I said.

"You are quite welcome." the twins said with prim dignity. They sat for a second with upturned noses and lofty expressions before as one they cracked, and leaped onto the bed with such enthusiasm that I thought the bed was going to break.

"So?" They asked eagerly.

"So what?" I replied.

"So what did you do to get landed in here? No one would tell us." I blanched. I hadn't thought about this. If Professor Dumbledore hadn't told them what happened, I wasn't going to. I didn't know why I couldn't share this part of myself with them, but it wasn't an option. They couldn't see this part of me, the part that they had been telling me wasn't there for three years. The freak.

"Um..." I began, but before I could make up a story, the door flew open and Professor Dumbledore strode in. Seeing him spawned many emotions. Gratefulness for all he had done, anger at his refusal to tell me anything about my past and fear for what he would say next. His benign smile was as ever, in place as he approached my bed.

"Hello, Aurelia. Nice to see you conscious again."

"Thank you, Professor." I muttered at my bed spread, cheeks pink.

"You're quite welcome." he said, as if he hadn't noticed my refusal to meet his eyes. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, do you think that you could give Aurelia and I a minute alone?" Fred and George nodded and made their exit. I saw Fred flash a look at George, and their silent conversation continued until the door banged shut behind them.

"What?" I asked Dumbledore. He did not answer right away, instead preferring to arrange himself comfortably in one of the high backed chairs by my bed. He surveyed for a minute down his long nose before answering.

"Aurelia, I wanted to thank you." I looked up at him and met his eyes for the first time.

"For what?" I asked, stunned.

"For doing what you did three nights ago. It was very brave."

"I only did it to help Harry. It wasn't very brave." I said, looking down at the blankets again.

"You'll forgive me if I disagree with you. Not only did you put yourself in mortal danger, you did it without profitable gain on your end."

"What do you mean mortal danger?" I asked confused.

"Aurelia, although you are a most accomplished shape-shifter—yes I do know about it," he said to my astonished look, "you are still very young. Although with practice you will be able to drive yourself that hard with ease, it was a very dangerous move for you. You could have died. You would have died, if you had not been with me. I cannot pretend to know what kind of pain you were in once you became human again, only that it would have been fatal."

I stayed silent as these words sunk in. With a shudder I remembered the white hot knives that had been stabbing into every inch of my skin, and the roiling pain that had bubbled up from within. I was not surprised to learn that I would have died. Looking back, I had only wanted the pain to end, and did not care how that was achieved. It scared me to think that I had been that willing to die.

"Professor, what happened with Harry? Did he stop Snape?"  
>"As it turns out Aurelia, it was not <em>Professor <em>Snape who was trying to steal the Stone. It was Professor Quirrell, who had been working as an agent of Voldemort. He is dead."

"And Voldemort?" I asked, eager. Once I had learned about Harry's past, I had done reading on Voldemort, and like Professor Dumbledore, I had no doubt that he would return. It had been one of the things that we knew about the other, without ever saying it.

"He has escaped, and while it seems that he has ben delayed for a while, well, you know."

"Yes." I agreed. We fell into silence for a time, before I got up the courage to ask the question that had been nagging at me.

"Professor, how did you know I could shape-shift?" He smiled slightly.

"Aurelia, I know far more about you that you would ever believe." At once, this incited anger inside of me. How was it fair that Dumbledore knew more about me that I knew about myself?

"And you aren't going to tell me anything are you?" I said angrily.

"No." he said calmly, only making me angrier.

"Fine." I said, turning my face away and trying to hide the tears that were forming in my eyes. I felt the springs of my bed creak as Dumbledore sat on the end of the bed.

"Aurelia.." he began.

"What?" I interrupted harshly. I knew that I shouldn't be talking to the headmaster that rudely, but that part of my mind was quickly drowned by the hurt.

"You do know that I don't tell you for your own good, don't you?"

"Doesn't feel like it." I said.

"I'm only trying to protect you. One day you'll understand." At this I turned to face him, giving up trying not to cry.

"How can I ever understand when all you do is lie to me? Don't you think that I want to know about myself? My whole life I've been a freak, even after I came here. What gives you the right to hide my life from me?" I asked.

"You are not ready for it yet. But you will be soon." Dumbledore said. "I am so sorry that I must keep this from you, but Aurelia, after you hear, you will wish that you did not know."

"Can't you let me be the judge of that?" I said, swiping the hot tears off my cheeks.

"Not today. But that day draws closer." Dumbledore said, standing.

"Is that it?" I asked sharply.

"No. I wish to impress upon you again the bravery of what you did. Not everyone would have done it. I also wish to tell you that you have the ability to have a greater effect on the world than you could ever believe. Don't waste the opportunity. You have many gifts, use them. And also, just a reminder that you might want to keep one of your gifts close to you." he said. I stayed quiet, and did not watch as he left the hospital wing, leaving me alone to try and heal my wounds, some of which he had knowingly caused.

I stayed in the hospital wing until the last day of term. As much as I disliked the boring white walls of the hospital wing, and the admonishings, it was easier to stay in bed eating my way through the candy that Fred and George had bought me from Hogsmeade than get up and deal with the problems that lay beyond the double doors. Besides, Harry was confined to the hospital wing as well, and with him the whole experience was much more enjoyable.

When Harry and I were both cleared to leave, I could not make excuses to stay there any longer. We left after lunch and after we had thrown away the packaging from all the candy we had eaten. After promising to see him at the feast, I bade goodbye to Harry and made my way to the library instead of the common room. I was not ready yet to see the twins, and the library was the place that I was guaranteed not to find them. Just as I'd hoped, the library was almost completely deserted when I entered. Madame Pince shot me a suspicious glare, but made no comment as I passed by her desk and wandered into the row with all the newspapers. I returned to stack of papers from the year I was born, but found no birth announcement in all of twelve months. Angry at having to go through fifty two Daily Prophets for no reason, I slammed the box back into the shelf with much more force than necessary, and the boxes that contained the next two years of Prophets fell to the floor, spilling. I swore loudly, and then glanced around to make sure that Madame Pince had not heard the noise or the swearing. Thankfully, she didn't appear to have heard. With a sigh, I collected the Prophets and stuffed them back into their boxes without much care. Nobody really looked through these anyway, and I figured that it would give Madame Pince something to do in the lonely summer months. I had almost finished when a headline caught my attention. Interested, I unfurled the paper and read the story below.

**SIRIUS BLACK SENTENCED TO LIFE IN AZKABAN**

_ This certainly has been a twenty four hours for the history books. First, yesterday night with the sad murder of the Potters, but the exciting defeat of You-Know-Who. Now, this morning, Sirius Black—best friend to the late James Potter—has been sentenced to life in Azkaban for the killing of thirteen people with one curse. Among the dead includes Peter Pettigrew, friend to both Black and Potter, who tried to stand up to Black, and revealed that Sirius Black had turned traitor against the Potters, and sold them out to You-Know-Who. _

I shoved the paper back into the box, disgusted. I really didn't want to know about this. I could only assume that Sirius Black was some sort of relative to me, a thought which did not help. I had sort of had this assumption that my family had been good, kind people. This definitely did not fit the image. I couldn't help but think that Professor Dumbledore had been right all along. I hated myself even more now. I exited the library in a state of turmoil. I had nowhere to go now, except the common room. I might as well get a little bit of packing done. Mercifully, Fred and George weren't in the common room either, so I was able to go up to my room without difficulty. I wasn't exactly sure why I didn't want to see the twins—they were the bet friends that anyone could ask for. But they still hadn't stopped asking what I had done to end up in the hospital wing, and I still couldn't give them any answers. I wanted too badly, but Professor Dumbledore had told me not too, and it was easier to avoid the twins than lie to them. I was a good liar, but I didn't like doing it.

Before I knew it, it was time to go down to the End of Year Feast. I looked regretfully at my bed as I left the room. I hadn't gotten as much packing done as I had hoped. A single shirt and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 lay in the otherwise empty trunk. Oh well. I meandered down to the Great Hall with the rest of the school, taking my time. As soon as I walked into the Hall I heard Fred and George call my name. My heart swelled with love as I saw that they had saved me my usual seat between them.

"Hey, where were you today?" Fred asked as I sat down. "We went looking for you in the hospital wing, but you had already gone."

"Yeah, I got out after lunch but I went straight up to my room and fell asleep." I said. Only the last part was a lie. And I sort of had been asleep. Before we had a chance to delve into further conversation, Professor Dumbledore stood to announce the House rankings for the House Cup. Everybody knew who had already won, as the hangings all around the hall were silver and green, but in a surprise announcement from Professor Dumbledore, almost two hundred extra points were awarded to us, making it so that we won. I blushed bright red when Professor Dumbledore awarded me fifty points for "bravery beyond anything expected of a teenager, and courage would have humbled even Godric Gryffindor." The feast was an extremely enjoyable one, I spent most of the meal with Fred, George, Lee, Alicia and Katie (who had become a permanent part of our little group) but made sure to shift over a few seats for dessert so that I could talk to Harry. I was relieved to find that he was very happy, and that his altercation with Professor Quirrel/Lord Voldemort was no more than a not so pleasant memory. When the feast was over, I walked back up to the common room with Fred and George. As was our ritual, we spent the last night at Hogwarts talking, until we all got too tired to keep our eyes open. Everyone else always went up to their rooms, so we had the common room to ourselves. This year was no exception.

"I might have to cut it short this year guys, I haven't packed a thing." I admitted as I flumped down in front of the fire.

"You think we have? Suck it up, Aurs." George said, sitting down next to me so that we were sitting in a sort of semi circle.

"I'm serious! And it takes longer for me to pack too, since I have to go to spend eight weeks in isolation and therefore less motivation to pack."

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked.

"The Jensons house. Number eleven, Grimmauld Place. What else would I be talking about?"

"You mean we haven't told you?" George asked.

"What are you two on about?"

"Wow, we really haven't." The twins said together, staring at me.

"Haven't what?" I said, confused.

"We asked Mum if you could come stay for the summer, and she said yes."

"The whole summer?" I asked incredulously, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yes!" They said together. I screamed and reached forward to hug them both. This was the best news ever—my summer had suddenly gotten a million times better.

"I'm glad you're excited." Fred laughed as I resumed my earlier position of leaning against the hassock.

"Shut up." I said, smiling. They knew how much their friendship—and the Burrow meant to me. In many ways, they were the family I never had. "Are Bill and Charlie going to be there?" I asked. Fred and George shook their heads.

"They're both too busy with work, they wanted to come though." George said.

"Bill told me that he's going to the World Cup with a few friends on his day off. It's in Cairo this year." I groaned in jealousy. I could only imagine how much fun attending a World Cup would be, the international players must be amazing.

"Are you guys going to try and play professionally?" I asked, curious.

"Probably not—couldn't open a joke shop AND play." they answered. "You should play though."

"If I even could make a team."

"You totally could, if you wanted to." Fred said.

"Well, at least I have a back up plan if I have a mid-life crisis." I joked. Honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to do after Hogwarts. I shuddered at the thought of having to leave, leave the Great Hall, leave the moving staircases, leave the squashy armchairs by the fireplace in the common room. Luckily, that moment was four years away.

"So Aurelia," said George, a wicked grin on his face, "truth or dare?" I thought about it for a moment. Usually I would choose dare, but I was so cozy by the fire. Besides, when playing truth or dare with the twins it was never an easy pick. More like picking your poison.

"Truth." I sighed. I knew they had hoped I would choose dare, but their smiles didn't flicker.

"Okay. What's your deepest darkest secret?" Fred asked, dropping his voice melodramatically. Great. I had to many deep dark secrets, and to many that I couldn't tell. The twins must really want the answer to how I had ended up in the hospital wing to waste a question on it. I hardly ever picked truth, and this was the reason why. Of course, it made the twins' questions more brutal. I went for the most innocuous thing I had been keeping from them.

"Well, I've been trying to find my family." I said.

"Your birth parents?" prompted Fred, and I nodded.

"Have you found them?" George asked quietly. I shook my head.

"No, I haven't. I hardly have anything to go on—besides my name. I've looked in all the old newspapers, and there are no birth announcements. The only thing I've found isn't that good."

"What was it?"

"Well I found an article about Sirius Black getting sentenced to life in Azkaban for killing thirteen people. And after that, I don't know if I want to keep looking."

"Aurelia, it's okay. You don't even know for sure if you're related to him. And anyway, your whole family can't be like that, even if you are related to him." Fred said, sliding over to sit closer to me.

"Thanks Fred. You're the best."

"Hey what about me?" George protested. "Just because I don't—" but a look from Fred silenced him at once.

"Don't what?" I looked between the two.

"Nothing. Just because I don't know what to say yet means that i'm second rate to this lump?" I laughed.

"Of course it doesn't. You're the best too." I said, reaching over and ruffling his hair.

"Hmph. That's more like it." George said, sounding somewhat appeased.

"And just because I love you so much, Fred can go next." I said, exercising my right as the first person to be 'truth or dared' to choose the person who went next. I didn't even bother asking Fred whether he wanted truth, because he always chose dare.

"Fred your dare is—."

"Hey! How do you know that I don't want truth?"

"Do you?" I asked, skeptical.

"No."

"Well then," I continued as though he had never interrupted, "I dare you to go up to the girls dormitory and pack up all my things for me."

"What? Aurelia I'm surprised at you." Fred said.

"Yeah, that's the lamest dare I've ever heard." George agreed.

"If it's lame it should be easy, so get on with it." I said, poker faced. Fred looked back towards the girls staircase, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You know, we've never been into the girls dormitories before George." he mused. He stood up.

"All right, I'll do it. It should be easy enough." I turned around as Fred reached the stairs. He didn't look back as he began to climb confidently up the stairs, and I smiled to myself as his foot landed on the sixth step. With a loud wailing noise, the steps melted into a slide, and Fred, losing his balance at once toppled over and fell in a heap back on the rug.

George cracked up, falling to the floor. I was laughing too, and continued to laugh as Fred picked himself up gingerly, and came back and sat down, shoving me over as he did so.

"That wasn't nice." he said, though he didn't sound particularly disgruntled.

"C'mon Freddie," I said, "you know it was funny." He looked at me for a moment before his face melted into a smile.

"Okay it was pretty funny." he admitted, and then we were all laughing together. We collapsed on the floor, rolling around, gasping for air but every time we stopped laughing, the picture of Fred's face as he rocketed to the ground came into our minds again, and we went into another fit of laughter. It was one of those things that wasn't even particularly funny, but in the right company, was downright hilarious. As I lay on the floor, catching my breath, I thought it was true that the best laughs were over the silliest things.


	13. Intoxicate and Purify

_A/N: Enjoy! School's almost done, which means more chapters faster! I promise! Love, Tarquin x _

**Anything you recognize (I.e setting, characters, dialogue and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**Let my spirit fly,**

**my intentions are not to intoxicate but purify,**

**give me truth, or every time I hear a lie, **

**joy be the only reason I get teary eyed."**

**-Emblem 3, Curious**

"What do you mean, you're going to rescue Harry and I can't come?" I yelled.

"Shhhh!" the twins said, pushing me into their room before anybody could hear. I had been spending my summer at the Burrow, and it had been the best summer of my life. There had been only one thing worrying me—Harry was not responding to any of my letters. When I asked Ron if he had heard anything, he said that he hadn't. That had worried us both, so we had confided in the twins who hatched a master plan to rescue Harry. A plan that apparently did not include me.

"Well?" I demanded as soon as the twins had close the door of their room. Like all the other rooms in the Burrow, there wasn't a lot of extra space, but it was very homey and comfortable. There were two beds with matching striped white and blue sheets, and there was a window seat where you could sit and look over the messy garden. Since it was nighttime however, you couldn't see anything except the starry sky and lumpy shapes that were only vaguely recognizable as bushes. I really liked their room, but I didn't have time to appreciate it as I was too busy glaring at Fred and George.

"Aurelia, you're rooming with Ginny and if you leave, you might wake her up." George tried to explain. I shook this extraneous detail off. They didn't know it, but I could shape-shift into a tiny animal and get out of the room with no issue at all.

"I can do it." I insisted.

"There's no room in the car." Fred said. This too wouldn't be an issue if I told them about the shape-shifting thing. I wished I could. I wanted too. But Professor Dumbledore had told me not to, and the horrifying nightmare of their wide eyed stares and turned backs made that impossible.

"There are five seats in that Ford Angela, there's plenty of room." I told them. They looked at each other, stumped. This was the reason that I was the brains behind all the pranks we pulled. It wasn't that Fred and George were dumb, (in fact they were quite intelligent) it was that they failed to apply logic in places where it would be most helpful.

"Face it." I said, when they failed to come up with another excuse, "There is no reason that I can't come."

"Fine." said Fred, finally cracking. "You can come."

"Yes!" I crowed.

"We're leaving at midnight so be down in the kitchen then." George told me.

"Wouldn't miss it." I replied, exiting the room and heading back downstairs.

I didn't sleep that night, even though I was pretty tired from the many Quidditch sessions that we had played earlier in the day. I listened to Ginny's easy breathing as I checked my watch every few minutes. I was scared to fall asleep, but the adrenaline coursing through me at the excitement of getting Harry made sure that I was in no danger. Finally, my watch read 11:57. I grinned. Fred and George couldn't know about the shape-shifting, but I didn't see anything wrong with using my powers to sneak out of the room without disturbing Ginny.

I shifted easily into a mouse small enough to slip through the gap between the door and the floor. I hadn't shifted since the near fatal episode in June, but it was as easy as it had ever been. I had been afraid that if I tried to shift, something terrible would happen. Nothing did, but I didn't want to take any chances. As soon as I was out on the landing, I shifted back, not wanting to have an awkward situation where the twins saw me shifting, or one of them accidentally stepped on me while I was in mouse form. That would not be good.

When I got down to the kitchen, I saw the twins—and, to my surprise, Ron standing there waiting for me. I couldn't help but feel indignant that they had put up a fight about me coming, but not Ron. I chose not to say anything though, the beginning of a rescue mission was hardly the time to voice complaints.

"Ready?" Fred asked me, grinning the endearing way he always did right before a stint of rule breaking.

"As I'll ever be." I replied, smiling too. Fred and George looked at each other and George covered the family clock with a sweater that had been left on a chair.

"Why'd you do that?" Ron asked, as Fred turned the doorknob carefully so that the door didn't creak.

"Shut up until we get outside Ron." George said, now pushing him out the door.

"Hey!" Ron said loudly.

"Shut up Ron, you prat." Fred hissed. "Do you want to wake Mum up?" George closed the door behind us with a sharp click.

"No." Ron said sulkily.

"Didn't think so. Why'd we agree to bring you again?" George said as we crossed the yard to where the Ford Angela was.

"Because Harry's my best friend, and I would have told if you hadn't." Ron muttered as Fred climbed into the driver's seat and George claimed the passenger seat, leaving me and Ron to scramble into the back. I had to admit, my feelings were slightly less bruised now that I knew Ron was only allowed to come because the twins thought he would tattle.

"Now everybody pray that the noise of revving up the engine doesn't wake Mum up." George said, turning around and not bothering to fasten his seatbelt.

"It won't, it didn't before." Fred responded, turning the key in the ignition. At once the engine sprang to life, and while we were able to get into the air without anyone running out of the house to stop us, that wasn't what was on my mind.

"What do you mean before?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. If it wasn't a big deal, it wasn't a big deal. I didn't tell Fred and George where they could and couldn't go, so why did I care if they'd snuck out. However, the shifty look Fred and George exchanged told me that maybe it was a bigger deal than I thought it was.

"Um, we snuck out a couple of weeks ago, that night you went to bed with a cold." George said.

"And?" I prompted. When no answer came, I tried again. "Where'd you guys go?"

"To um, Kenneth Towler's birthday party." Again, this didn't seem like a big deal to me. Kenneth was an okay guy, but we had never gotten along very well. I didn't quite know what his problem was, but he was always very distant and cold with me. So I didn't mind that I hadn't been invited to his stupid party. What I minded was that Fred and George were suddenly keeping secrets from me. On some level I knew it was unfair, since I was keeping a fairly major one from them, but I had shared everything else with them—things that I hadn't necessarily wanted to share but that they had pried out of me.

"Cool." I said. I didn't know what else there was to say. "Anything interesting happen?" Fred shrugged his shoulders noncommittally.

"Not really." He said. I pretended not to notice the look that George shot him.

The rest of the ride passed in silence, except for the snores from Ron, who had fallen asleep. Soon enough, Fred began to descend as the lights of Little Whinging came into view.

"Shake Ron. Tell him to get the rope out of his bag." Fred ordered, descending further.

"What street is it?" he asked the car in general, as he pressed a button on the dashboard, and at once the streets names popped up so that we could read them.

"Number 4, Privet Drive." I responded, as I hit Ron.

"What?" he said, opening his eyes and flailing his arms wildly. I laughed at his expression.

"We're almost there, Fred says to get the rope out of your bag." I told him.

"Oh right!" Ron said, and immediately dove into the sack by his feet and extracted several meters of rope, one end of which had a large clamp on it.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Emergencies." George said. "Turn Fred!" Fred pulled a sharp left, and Ron yelped, falling against me.

"It's okay Ron." I said, smiling. "Here it is!" I said, pointing at a very prim and proper looking house with a neat and well watered lawn. It was the last place I'd ever look for Harry Potter.

"Drive around back." George said, speaking more quietly now. Fred turned and we began to drive along the side of the house, hovering in air. I didn't want to think about what would happen if there was a malfunction and suddenly the car dropped to the ground.

"Wait stop!" I cried, pointing to a window that was criss crossed with iron bars. "Bet me a million galleons that's Harry's window."

"I'd never bet against you." Fred said, as we maneuvered that car so that we could touch the side of the house. Sure enough, as we looked in the window, we saw Harry asleep on the bed, he was tossing and turning like he was in the middle of a very bad dream. Ron reached forward and shook the bars.

"Harry! Harry wake up!" Ron called. With a start Harry opened his eyes. He squinted at us, and fished around for his glasses.

"Ron? What's going on?"

"We're here to rescue you." Ron responded.

"We? What are you going to do about the bars?"

"It's me, Fred, George and Aurelia." Ron told him.

"Toss him the rope. Quickly!" George said. Ron threw the rope, and with the twins instructions to tie the rope to the bar, Harry did so quickly, and then stood back against his closet. Fred stomped on the gas, and with a loud clang the bars from Harry's window fell down onto the shrubs. Fred backed the car up so that Harry could start loading his stuff up.

"All my things are downstairs and the door's locked." Harry whisper yelled to us.

"On it!" the twins responded.

"Aurelia, come here and take the wheel, just make sure everything stays steady." Fred said, shifting over as much as he could. I climbed over the seats and dropped into the driver's seat, accidentally sitting on one of Fred's legs in the process. I could feel the warmth of his skin radiating through his jeans and feel the muscles tense beneath me.

"Sorry." he muttered, before clambering out of the car after George. I stared after him, confused. I was beginning to get the feeling that he was hiding something from me, though I had no idea why he would.

While Fred and George disappeared into the darkness of number four Privet Drive, Harry loaded all his stuff into the trunk, Ron trying to help as best he could from a flying car. I watched as they tag teamed, making sure that the car stayed level and actually in the air. I could see that despite the shock that still lingered on his face, Harry was intensely happy. I suspected that he had never been the recipient of such an act of friendship before. I knew what he was feeling—I myself had never been a part of such an act until I too had met Weasleys. I didn't understand how they could be considered traitors of any kind, to me they were saviors, the people responsible for welcoming me with open arms into the wizarding world.

"I cannot believe that you managed to get out of trouble." said Ginny, later that afternoon. We were sitting in her room, having just showered away the grime from household chores and Quidditch matches. Ginny was sprawled on her bed in fresh clothes, and was letting her hair air dry, spread flat across her pillows.

"I can't either. She was livid at Fred and George, but she hardly said two words to Harry and I."

"That's because you're a guest." Ginny said, laughing.

"She seemed especially mad at Fred and George though." I said, wonderingly.

"Yeah, because she found out that wasn't the first time they've snuck out."

"You know, I just found out about that myself." I said. It was slightly embarrassing to admit that I didn't know about their late night excursions, but Ginny was trustworthy. To my confusion however, she giggled.

"What's so funny?" I asked. She tried to recover herself, but failed, another round of giggles bursting from her lips.

"Fred must be so mad."

"Why?" I asked, more confused than ever.

"Because he didn't want you to know what happened when they snuck out."

"Why not? What happened? And how do _you _know about it?" I asked.

"Well, I was eavesdropping on them, you know, because I wanted to play Quidditch with you guys, and this was still when they were refusing to let me play."

"Go on."

"And I didn't hear so much about Quidditch as I did about a boy called Kenneth's birthday party. They snuck out the night you were sick. And Fred and Angelina kissed."

"What?" I yelled, stunned. So that was what Fred had been trying to hide from me. Ginny sat up, alarmed.

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed.

"I can't believe it!" I said, dropping my voice several levels. Ginny nodded eagerly, alight from the gossip.

"I know! And he made George promise not to tell you."

"Why would he do that?" I said, wonderingly. Ginny shrugged, out of information.

"Beats me. I probably would know if I had stayed longer, but I was afraid they would catch me."

"Thanks Ginny. Why are you telling me this, if you know Fred doesn't want me to know?" She grinned, a grin as evil as her twin brothers', and suddenly I could see her as she would be in a few short years. She would be a force to be reckoned with.

"Fred shouldn't get everything he wants. Besides, you deserve to know." Before I could ask why I, of all people, deserved to know, Mrs. Weasley was calling us to dinner. We bounded down the stairs, and tonight I chose to sit next to Ginny and across from the twins. There weren't exactly set dinner places, but everyone often found their ways to the same chairs each night.

The table had gotten more packed with the addition of Hermione two days ago, and now Harry, who took a place two seats down from me. I smiled to myself, seeing how happy he looked to be here. As I ate my dinner, I found myself staring at Fred. It was hard to not have my imaged of him changed, now that I knew he had wasted his first kiss on Angelina Johnson, a girl who still did not see me truly as an equal. And of course, I wanted to know if they were actually together now, but I couldn't ask that without ratting out Ginny.

"What's up?" he asked, when he caught my eye again for the third time.

"Nothing." I said, hastily returning to my Shepherd's pie. "Everything's great."

"Yeah, it is." Harry agreed from further down the table. I smiled back at him, and went back to staring at my plate as I ate my food. I was still trying to decide what the burning feeling in the pit of my stomach was. I didn't know what was worse: the fact that Fred had kissed Angelina, or that he went to such lengths to hide it. The burning in my stomach remained throughout the meal, intensifying every time I looked at Fred.

Before I could believe it, we were back on the Hogwarts Express. Actually, it was welcome. The weather was disgusting, and we had had to return to the Burrow three separate times (including because Ginny forgot her diary) before actually getting on the freeway to head to King's Cross. We tried hard not to bowl over Muggles as we hurried to the barrier. Fred and George and I ran straight through on the heels of Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. We finally allowed ourselves to stop running as the red steam engine came into view. The fact that we were already in fourth year seemed incomprehensible. The OWLs were next year. I pushed this thought from my mind. It was way too early to get worked up about that now.

We arrived on Platform 9 ¾ with only minutes to spare, but Fred and George to score a compartment all to ourselves. It was still a little awkward being around Fred, because he still didn't know that I knew about him and Angelina. As hard as it was to hide that I knew, I wanted to see whether or not they were a couple. Angelina usually hung out with our group now, and though we were on reasonably good terms because of Quidditch, we would never be close friends. I knew this, and so did she, which was why I was curious to see what was going on between her and Fred. I knew that Fred wasn't my property, but it did somehow feel like Angelina had taken him away from me.

"What are you doing?" George asked, as I stuck my head out of the compartment for the third time, looking for any sign of Angelina. I didn't think I'd ever been this eager to see her. George frowned at me slightly as I closed the glass door.

"What? Me? Oh, just keeping an eye out for people." I said, sitting down again as the door slide open. I started, but it was only Katie, her hair bouncing happily in it's ponytail.

"Hey guys!" she said, sitting down in the seat next to me. She must have been vacationing somewhere warm, for her skin was tanned and glowing.

"Hi, Katie!" I said, giving her a hug.

"How was your summer?" asked Fred, and Katie kept into a tale of her summer that sounded absolutely wild. She had been in Spain, and attended some amazing parties. I listened and smiled as she recounted one especially crazy night where she had drunk too much firewhiskey. Sometimes it was hard to believe Katie was only thirteen.

"But how was your summer?" she finished.

"Great," Fred began, but before he could say anything else, the compartment door slid open again and this time Alicia Spinnet walked in, accompanied by Angelina. Fred stopped talking, and George's eyes flicked from Fred to Angelina and back again. I watched, hardly daring to breathe.

"Hi!" said Katie, the only one who was unaware of the tension in the room. Even Alicia looked slightly uncomfortable, so I assumed that she too must have been at the party. God, was everyone invited except me?

"Hey, guys." said Alicia, sliding half a glance at Angelina before taking the seat next to Fred. George seemed to be able to breathe again, as Angelina took a seat across from Katie and at once started a conversation with her, carefully avoiding Fred. With relief, I let out a breath. That answered my question. They were not a couple. I couldn't say exactly why I was so happy, but I happily joined the girls' conversation as Lee Jordan ran into our compartment just as the train began to move.

Fred and Lee were involved in a conversation about Dr. Filibuster's future retirement when I finally was able to ask Angelina a question.

"So, anything interesting happen this summer?" I asked her, keeping my tone light, happy, and what I hoped was free of implication.

"Hardly." Angelina answered. "I was stuck at my grandmother's house all summer."

"Really? No cute boys?" I said. Ok, maybe there was a little bit of implication in my voice. Angelina flushed a little bit and George looked up from his Cauldron Cake at once.

"Not one." she said, and the conversation continued normally. It didn't take long for George to elbow me discreetly in the side.

"What?" I whispered cheerfully.

"You know what." he whispered back. So he knew that I knew about Fred and Angelina.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Georgie." I said, turning to smile at him. "You have Cauldron Cake on your face."


	14. Burning Light

**Anything you recognize (I.e setting, characters, dialogue and base plot) belongs to J.K Rowling**

"**Something's in the air tonight, **

**the sky's alive with a burning light, come mark my words, **

**something's about to break. And I found myself in a bitter fight, **

**but I felt your hand through the darkest night."**

**-Matt Kearney, Nothing Left to Lose**

"I cannot believe that you're hearing voices!" I exclaimed, unable to keep my voice down.

"Will you be quiet?" Harry snapped, checking for the tenth time to make sure that the common room was indeed deserted.

"What did it sound like?" I asked, curious.

"Hissing." Harry said.

"And nobody else heard it?" I asked, though I already knew the answer to this.

"Yes. And if you tell me I'm crazy, I might hit you." he said.

"I'm not going to!" I said quickly. "It's just so strange!"

"You could say that." Harry said sarcastically, chucking a stray piece of parchment into the fire and watching it burn. It had been almost a week since Mrs. Norris had been mysteriously petrified, and there were still no answers as to who had done it. Or why.

"Are you sure you don't want any dinner?" I asked him. His face looked thinner than usual, and bags were beginning to form underneath his eyes.

"I'm sure. You go down if you want though."

"I'm fine." I said. At once, an ill timed grumble from my stomach betrayed me. Harry grinned.

"Go eat, Aurelia. I'll be fine, I promise." he said. Hunger winning out, I stood.

"I'll be back soon." I said, as I climbed out of the portrait hole. I did need food, but I was still worried about Harry. He wasn't eating as much, and he wasn't really talking to Ron or Hermione. He hadn't been doing much of either since the Mrs. Norris incident. I could tell that he was scared, not so much of the voice, but of his ability to hear it.

When I entered the Great Hall, dinner was in full swing. It seemed like the whole school (minus a certain boy with a lightning scar) had chosen to be at dinner at 20:12 pm. It seemed like every seat in the hall was filled, and people were even popping up from time to time to see people at different tables. I noticed a couple of Slytherins standing with a few Ravenclaws in the aisle between their tables, pouring over an Arithmancy book. Two Hufflepuff fifth years waved shyly at Oliver Wood as they passed. He smiled politely at them, and then went back to his conversation with Alicia, whose animated smile said she had noticed his lack of interest in the Hufflepuff girls. As crowded as the Great Hall was, there was still an empty seat next to Fred. I sat down, and at once began to fill my plate with turkey, mashed potatoes and salad. As much as I wanted to be upstairs with Harry, I was famished.

"Wow, that's a lot of food," said Fred, which I took as his version of 'hello'.

"I'm hungry." I replied, cutting my meat without glancing at him.

"Are you sure that you're going to eat all that?" he asked.

"Watch me." I said, my mouth full. Across the table, George snickered.

"Maybe it isn't the best idea." Fred said. Annoyed, I dropped my knife and fork. They clattered loudly onto the table.

"What is your problem, Fred?" I asked. Out of corner of my eye, I noticed George quickly join in Lee Jordan and Katie's conversation.

"I don't have a problem." Fred said stubbornly.

"Except with my food, which is completely none of your business."

"Aurelia, calm down. I didn't mean anything by it." he said.

"Just leave me alone, okay Fred?" I grumbled, picking my fork back up.

"Gladly, if you're going to be like this." he said. We ate in tense silence for a minute, and I resisted the urge to slide down to the next seat as Angelina, Katie and Lee left the table.

"Aurelia!" A new voice caught my ears, and I looked up to see Ned Finch flying down the aisle towards me.

"Ned! What's up?" I asked, wiping my mouth on a napkin. He collapsed into Katie's empty seat and flung down his Ancient Rune notebook with a loud thud.

"Are you ready for the test tomorrow?" he asked. I groaned loudly. I had completely forgotten about the first period Ancient Rune test. There went my relaxing Sunday night. Ned laughed.

"I'll take that as a no." he said.

"You're right." I said, smiling, even though forgetting about an Ancient Rune test was usual enough to send me into a panic.

"Well maybe you can still help me. I was looking over my notes, and I realized that I had writing these two words down without definitions, and nobody can remember what they mean." He pointed out two messily written words about halfway down a page of cramped notes.

"How am I supposed to translate them if I can't even read them?" I asked, laughing. Ned blushed.

"It's ehwaz and eihwaz," he said. I frowned, trying to remember my own notes, which were all the way back up in Gryffindor tower.

"I think that ehwaz is partnership, and eihwaz is defense. I would double check, though. I'm not positive."

"Close enough, that will at least help me get through the passages on the fairy wars." he said, getting up.

"Well, good luck studying." I said.

"You know, if you want to study together, I'm going to the library after dinner." he said. I considered. I wanted to be with Harry, but I knew that there was no way I wasn't going to get a good grade on this test without some serious cramming.

"Sure, I'd love to."  
>"Awesome! See you later, then." he said, squeezing my arm as he left. I felt Fred tense. I had already taken a couple more bites of dinner before he spoke.<p>

"So, do you like him?" Fred asked. It almost passed as a casual question, except I could see his white knuckles gripping his fork.

"What? No! We're friends."

"You can tell me, Aurelia." he said, his voice almost creepily calm.

"We're just friends." I repeated.

"You sure? He looked like he wants to be a little more than friends." he said.

"No he didn't." I snapped, irritated.

"Oh, we're a little defensive, aren't we," Fred's voice was plainly mocking now, "if you like him Aurelia, you can tell me. I can help you out."

"Why are you being so terrible?" I asked him.

"I'm just trying to help, Aurelia." he said, smirking. Once again, I dropped my utensils. I felt anger boiling up inside me, anger I had been keeping at bay since the summer that I now allowed to consume me, like paper burning in a flame.

"Oh, because you're such an expert. You know, making out with Angelina doesn't make you better than me." I watched with satisfaction as the smirk vanished and color drained from his face.

"How do you know about that?" he asked, his voice deadly quiet.

"Does it matter?" I asked him. I was enjoying having the upper hand in the argument, and I wasn't about to rat out Ginny.

"Did you tell her?" Fred asked George, whipping around in his seat. George, who had been until this point quietly eating his dessert and minding his own business, looked up startled. As soon as he saw his twin's face though, he knew to what Fred was referring.

"No, though I knew she knew."

"And you never told me?" Fred said, still making an effort to keep his voice low.

"You two needed to work it out."

"There isn't anything to work out." I said, standing up. "Fred can kiss whomever he likes, and then lie about it for months. It's not like I would be mad or anything."  
>"Aurelia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you and there's nothing going on between me and Angelina. I didn't tell you because, it's just that—."<p>

"Save it Fred, I really don't care."

"Aurelia!" Fred called, but I turned and stalked out of the hall. On the way out, I passed Ron and Hermione standing in the corner, talking quietly. I marched up to them.

"You should be upstairs in the common room with your friend right now. He needs you, and I know you've been avoiding him." I said, and continued up the marble stairs to the library before Hermione could even draw breath to reply.

I flung the library door open with a bang, warranting an evil glare from Madam Pince which I ignored, and looked around the room for Ned. I saw him sitting at a table near the back windows, and for the first time tonight, smiled. Ned's brown hair was tinted with gold from the candle light, and his brows were furrowed as he concentrated on the textbooks spread out before him. As if sensing someone was looking at him, he glanced up, and seeing me, waved.

"Hi, Ned." I said, sitting down in the seat next to him.

"Hi, Aurelia. Did you bring your stuff?" He asked me.

"Damn." I swore, upset that I had let Fred get me all upset. "I'll be right back."

"No, that's okay! We can just go over the stuff in the textbooks."

"I'm sorry. I was just a little distracted after dinner. I kind of got into a fight with one of my friends." I said. I didn't quite know why I was telling him this, but even though I didn't know him that well, I felt comfortable around him. He had an easy smile, and an open, friendly face.

"Let me guess, with Fred Weasley?"

"I didn't realize that being a Ravenclaw meant you were omnipresent." I said, opening one of the giant textbooks to the back and scanning the index. Ned laughed.

"It doesn't. I was just guessing. What happened?"

"It's kind of a long story." I said, not wanting to rehash the details of my fight.

"But I bet it's more interesting that rune translations." Ned said, closing his book.

"Something more interesting than school? Will you be kicked out of Ravenclaw for saying that?" I joked.

"You know, Ravenclaws aren't only interested in school." he replied.

"What else are you interested in, books?" I said.

"Well, I like Quidditch—my uncle plays for the Irish National Team."

"Really?" I said, both surprised and impressed.

"Yeah, but are you going to tell me about what's bothering you or not?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't really want to spread gossip, but Fred basically lied to me about making out with someone who I don't really like."

"And it bothers you because?"  
>"Because friends shouldn't lie to each other about that kind of stuff!" I said.<p>

"That really sucks, Aurelia, I'm sorry." he said. "I'm sure you'll work it out though, aren't the Weasley twins your best friends?"

"They are. Sometimes I feel like they're my only friends."

"Well, we're friends." he said.

"We are?"  
>"Of course we are! I'm voluntarily spending time with you, and enjoying myself."<p>

"You're enjoying yourself? So far you've listened to me complain about Fred and let me distract you from studying for a test." I said. I was pleased that he called me his friend, though.

"I think I'll eventually forgive you." he said, smiling.

"I hope so." I said, re-opening my book. "Now, who is the person responsible for creating runes?" I asked. He frowned, and flipped through his notes. His writing was so messy, I didn't understand how he could read his writing.

"I don't know," he said, after another minute of flipping. "Tell me."

"It was a trick question—there isn't a singular person given credit for the creation of runes. It was too long ago to know who it was." I said, paraphrasing from the book.

"That was a mean question." Ned grumbled.

"Okay, fine. You give me one." I said, handing him the textbook.

"Excuse me, what are you still doing here?!" exclaimed a nasally voice from behind us. I jumped up and saw none other than Madame Pince, her vulture face narrowed in dislike.

"We're studying for a test, Madame Pince." I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

"The library closed for the night fifteen minutes ago. Please return to your dormitories immediately." she shrieked, and at once we bolted for the door, not wanting to be alone with Madame Pince. I wasn't totally sure she wouldn't kill us. Ned and I walked in silence until we reached the corridor where we would part ways.

"Thanks for your help." Ned said.

"You're welcome." I said, though I didn't see how helpful I was.

"I'll see you first period." he smiled.

"I'll probably have just pulled an all-nighter studying." I said, as I turned left down one hallway.

"Bye, Aurelia." he called, as he continued straight on down the corridor. The corridor I turned down was totally deserted. It wasn't that late out, but most people were in their common rooms, finishing up the homework that they hadn't done all weekend. I didn't want to return to Gryffindor tower just yet though, as I still wasn't ready to face Fred. What I wanted was a break.

Easily, I shifted into a barn owl. I wanted wings, but an owl wasn't totally out of the ordinary should I pass a student. I flew down stairways, and turned left into a second floor corridor. At once I was met with a pair of bright yellow eyes, much more horrifying than mine. They were not human, or cat-like, but something all their own, and I felt shock and pain and fear as the eyes penetrated into my soul, and I was aware of death wrapped around me, but as everything was about to envelope me for good, I felt a huge shock go through me, making my feathers stand on end. I fell to the stone floor, human, as the darkness swallowed me whole.

_A/N: Author's note at the bottom this time, wheee. While I knew that she would be petrified by the basilisk, I didn't intend for it to be this early in the year, but as I was writing, it just made sense. I mean, how often does one wander the corridors late at night? Anyway, hope you enjoyed this sort-of short but eventful chapter. Next one's already begun. Review and recommend, please and thank you! Xoxo, Tarquin_


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